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by wordbending



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Other, Self-Harm, heavily implied past child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 18:43:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 58,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10039094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordbending/pseuds/wordbending
Summary: Legends say the two children had been inseparable - that, day and night, they never left each other's side.There's a lot legends don't say. They don't talk about the long conversations held late into the night, the games played, the gardens kept, the birthdays celebrated, the butterscotch pies eaten, the stories shared, the promises made that could never be kept.And they certainly don't talk about love.





	1. Build Up A New Us

**Author's Note:**

> _This is my home  
>  Where I go when I don't know where else to go  
> I know everything about this place, it wears your face  
> Even when my body blows away, my soul will stay_
> 
> \- Ingrid Michaelson, Home

"It sounds like it came from over here...

Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you?

Are you okay? Here, get up.

Chara, huh? That's a nice name...

My name is Asriel."

* * *

Asriel couldn’t sleep. He just couldn’t. He couldn’t even manage to stare at the ceiling of his bedroom, as he had tried to do every night for several long, long nights in a row. No matter what he did, his eyes kept darting to and from the other corner of the room, empty except for the new bed and the unmoving human laying on top of it.

He'd always been taught it wasn't polite to stare. It wasn’t that strange sights were uncommon in the underground, and Asriel wasn’t the type of monster to just stare at anyone without a hearty hello or how-do-you-do, but he'd been told some monsters didn't like to be looked at, and as his parents might say, proper decorum was an important responsibility for a prince!

But this, the human, was different, different in more ways than he could wrap his head around. It wasn't just that they were a human, a real, living human, or even that said human was in his house, in his _room_ , which were all things he still couldn't really believe, it was... something else.

When he looked at them, he thought back to that first day they’d met. He thought about the life that came into their eyes when he’d offered his paw to them, the way they’d whispered his name when he’d said it to them. He thought about how, even though their face was covered in these ugly blue bruises, even though they could barely stand, they had still wobbled to their feet and tried to walk anyway. He thought about how they’d kept walking even when he had to catch them to keep them from falling. Maybe they didn’t even realize it, but they were actually really strong.

And it made Asriel feel strong too, knowing he had done something to help save them, knowing that the human was safe here now, with his family. Whenever he looked at them, he became filled with the feeling that maybe he could do anything too, if they could be so strong. Maybe being a prince wasn't so scary after all. Maybe, one day, he really could save everyone and destroy the barrier. Maybe if he helped the human, and they helped him, the two of them could help the underground together, just like his mom and dad did!

Asriel only had to think of those things and he could feel the magic that flowed through his body become faster and stronger, making a warmth rise in him from the bottom of his paws to the tips of his fur. And that's why he kept staring back at the human, even though it was a little bit rude.

So he looked over at the other side of the room again... and the human was gone.

The bed was empty.

He sprung up, leaning over the side of his bed, and squinted into the darkness, but there was no sign of them. He hadn't even heard them get up... but he took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. Maybe they just had to use that "toilet" thing? His dad had said humans did that, right?

He looked over towards the door, but it was still closed, which meant that either they were really quiet or... he turned back towards their bed, ready to get up and search if he had to, and came eye-to-eye with a pair of wide red eyes and an even wider smile staring back at him out of the dark.

Asriel bleated and jumped back nearly a foot, nearly rolling into the stuffed animals on the other side of his bed. He covered his mouth, a million thoughts racing through his mind (“oh no, did I really just do that” among them), but they turned to concern when he saw the human take a step back too. The smile hadn't left their face, but their eyes had managed to become even wider, and their hunched shoulders said a lot about what they were thinking.

"No, it's..." Asriel started to say, raising a paw towards them, but he couldn't get another word out before they turned on their heel and bolted back towards their bed, vanishing into the dark. Asriel heard their footsteps retreating, then the creak of wood as they climbed back onto their bed. He could see a shivering ball of blankets on the other side of the room.

Asriel sighed. For a moment, he thought that maybe he should get up and go check to see if they were OK, or that he should wake up his mom, or at least apologize for scaring them, but... he'd already really startled them and he didn't want to make things any worse. Maybe it'd be better if he just left them alone for a little while.

Although he was really curious... why had they been standing there?

* * *

Chara. Chara. Chara.

Asriel repeated the name in his mind over and over, the same way he had been for weeks, as he walked to his room. His parents always called them "the human" or "the human child,” so it had been hard at first for him to get used to calling them something else. But he had thought about it, and he couldn't just keep calling them "the human,” right? It'd be like if his friends called him "the monster child" or something - it'd just feel weird!

And, Asriel couldn't help but think to himself, wasn't there something a little special about it, if nobody else did it? It was like Asriel had his own secret nickname for them - just that, well, it happened to be their real name. Their true name.

Asriel realized he had been staring at the door to his room. Oh, right, he thought. Bedtime.

Gently, he turned the knob and pushed open the door, just enough for light from the hall to peek through the doorframe. Just that tiny bit of light was enough for Asriel to hear fabric rustling as Chara most likely yanked as much of their blanket as they possibly could in front of their eyes.

"Sorry," said Asriel, as he said every single night. He had never once been in bed before Chara, after all, since they practically never left it. After thinking for a second, he added, "Chara."

Being really careful not to make a sound, Asriel sucked in his gut and squeezed past the door, shutting it behind him. He looked over to the lump on the bed in the opposite corner, which remained as still as ever - at least the nightly rustling of blankets told him nothing horrible had managed to happen to Chara since he'd last been there.

With a quick glance back to the door, as if his mom and dad would pop out of it at any moment, he tip-toed to the foot of Chara's bed. The blanket didn't move as he got closer, except for the little rises and falls that said there was in fact something alive under there, but he wasn't really looking for Chara as much as...

Aha! There it was - at the foot of Chara's bed, thankfully still upright, was a plate. The pie crumbs on the floor told Asriel where it had been before... and the barely-nibbled on butterscotch-cinnamon pie told them how far it'd gotten after that.

"Charaaaaaaaa," whined Asriel, "you barely ate your pie! It's probably cold..."

Asriel gave it a careful poke with his claw, and to his surprise, it not only sank right into the filling, it was still _really_ hot _._ With a wince, he yanked his finger back out and stuck it in his mouth. Fire magic – of course.

"Awr nahft," he mumbled around his claw, taking it out of his mouth and shaking it dry. There was no reply from the blanket, so after some thought, he decided it couldn't hurt to try getting a little closer. He gently set himself down on the edge of the bed, between Chara and the leftover pie, and frowned down at the blanket pile.

"You didn't eat any dinner either," he said, doing his best not to use a mom or dad kind of voice - he knew Chara had their reasons, even if he didn't totally get them. He rolled his tongue over his fangs before going on, unsure of how to say what he wanted to say. "Are... are you OK? I'm worried about you, Chara."

The blanket didn’t say a word, and it still hadn't moved a single inch since he'd come in. Asriel became aware he was staring at it.He was starting to feel silly, so he turned his head down to stare at the floor instead, taking a glance back to the blanket now and then to see if it had moved any.

And he stared at the floor.

And he stared at

"No, you aren't."

Asriel jumped, covering his mouth before he made any more embarrassing bleats _._ He could feel the magic inside him jolt, getting him ready to defend himself, but he managed to take a deep breath and look calmly towards the blanket. Sticking out of it, like the head of a Woshua sticks out of their bathtub, was the ever-present smile and the wide, almost glowing red eyes of Chara. It felt like their eyes were looking straight through his SOUL.

"Of - of course I am!" he said, louder than he intended, as he did his level best to stare back into Chara's eyes. "I care about you a lot, Chara! Why would you say that?"

Chara's huge red eyes blinked, slowly.

"Don't lie."

"I'm n-" Asriel opened his mouth to say, before he swallowed, surprised to find himself already blinking back the beginnings of tears. Why was Chara saying these things? His mind raced to try and understand, and it took a few moments for it to catch up and realize that he hadn't done anything to them at all.

"Well, I... I'm sorry you feel that way," said Asriel, in the most ‘I am a grown-up boss monster and my voice did not just crack’ voice he could manage, as he turned his head away from them to wipe the tears from his eyes. He thought of other things to say, that his mom might say, about them not needing to be scared or how nobody would hurt them or they could talk about it with him if they ever wanted to, but he couldn’t seem to actually say them.

Instead, he said only, "I'll leave you alone."

Picking up the plate of still-warm pie, he started to get up off of the bed, but stopped as Chara's bright red eyes flashed in the dark, following him. Even in the dark, Asriel noticed the thick black lines beneath them, like fur markings.

"Please stay," they said. Chara's expression didn't change, but their voice was quiet and hoarse, even more than it usually was the rare times Asriel had heard it.

"OK," replied Asriel quietly, sitting back down.

Chara didn't say anything or move even an inch. Even their face stayed perfectly still at first - Asriel couldn't help but wonder how they could go so long without blinking - but as Asriel sat there on the edge of the bed, awkwardly holding the plate in his paws, he saw the slight frown in their smile, the way their pupils started to sway.

Asriel cleared his throat. "You... sure you don't want some, Chara?"

Chara's eyes snapped towards him, then down to the pie slice, and Asriel gently held out the plate towards them for emphasis, being careful not to make any sudden movements. He wasn't entirely expecting Chara to accept it but, well, it _was_ one of his mom’s pies. It was worth a shot.

“Mmm!” Asriel tried again as Chara just stared at him. He leaned over the pie slice and took an big, big sniff. “Smells great! I might... I might just... eat it myself?”

Asriel shrugged, grinning awkwardly. He felt silly. But then the pile of blankets slid backwards and Chara started to crawl out of them, inch by inch, their eyes staying focused on Asriel the entire time. Asriel gulped, although he wasn’t exactly sure why.

He couldn’t help but flinch a little either when Chara slid up onto their knees, coming up to his height, their bright red eyes only a few inches from his own.

He blinked, trying to focus.

“Oh, right.”

He turned towards them and, noticing their hands outstretched for the pie, he gently set the plate into them. The moment it was in their hands, Chara turned away, leaving Asriel in the dark. He could barely see more than the side of their head and the same striped shirt that he knew they’d keep wearing... well, forever, at this rate.

Even though he couldn’t see them very well, he could still hear the scrape of a fork against a plate and the (kind of disgusting) sounds of frantic chewing. In the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but notice that Chara didn’t seem to be bothered by how hot the pie was.

“I wasn’t really gonna eat it,” Asriel mumbled in spite of himself, staring down at his legs, as Chara continued to noisily devour the slice of pie. He heard the noises stop, then the sound of a thick, heavy swallow.

“I know,” said Chara’s voice. “You seem... nice.”

Asriel looked back at Chara, the instinct to say “thanks” kicking in even though he wasn’t sure if it was really that much of a compliment to say that he might be too nice to eat someone’s dessert without permission.

That was when Chara, without warning, slumped over, their head falling on his shoulder.

Asriel felt his shoulders stiffen even before he became alarmed that Chara had fallen victim to some kind of pie-related allergy, but he breathed a sigh of relief when the sounds of chewing continued a few seconds later, slower, more carefully. His neck refused to move to let him look over at Chara though – the thought of Chara laying against him sent a funny feeling through his gut that only got worse when he thought about actually seeing them doing it.

With Chara like that, he could feel their arm (so thin he wasn’t sure how they could even hold a plate) shifting against him as they moved, could feel every bite and every swallow they made, could feel how ice-cold they were through their threadbare shirt and his own warm-and-growing-warmer fur. He tapped his claws against his leg and tried not to think about that too much.

Then, just to make the night even weirder, Chara startedto _nuzzle_ him. It wasn't a sentence he would have ever imagined thinking, but that was the only word that fit – they’d laid their cheek against his ear and started to rub it against his fur. Asriel swore he felt every bit of fur on his body, which was quite a lot, stand on end.

“Ummmm,” he managed to say, unable to find any other words besides ‘do humans normally do this,’ which seemed rude.

Chara stopped nuzzling, although Asriel couldn’t tell if they had actually heard him or not since they didn’t say anything in reply, or move, or do much of anything, which wasn’t that weird for Chara but was weird tonight because Chara was acting really, really weird even by their standards and

 _Oh,_ Asriel thought when he finally opened his eyes again. Chara’s plate was in their lap, and their arms had fallen limp, and when he glanced up to their face, their eyes were shut. Their ever-present smile was still there, although it seemed gentler, softer, more like the kind of smile his mom would make.

Even in the dark he could see that their blush, too, was deeper, which he thought was pretty impressive seeing as he had become pretty sure it was just a natural part of their face. Asriel wondered, for a second, why they were blushing, and then pretended he didn’t feel his own cheeks getting warmer too.

Convinced Chara would open their eyes any second, he not-very-subtly looked away.

“Chara?”

Chara still didn’t reply, but he heard them breathing steadily, in and out.

“Are... are you asleep?”

No reply, just more breathing. So they were asleep. The moment he thought that, he felt a yawn of his own escape his mouth. He glanced over to his bed on the other side of the room, but then he glanced back to Chara, who really did look the most peaceful he’d ever seen them.

He knew he couldn’t even think about bothering them, even if he had to sit like this for the rest of the night, even if he’d pay for it with a sore back for the rest of the day tomorrow. So he tilted his head, resting it as best he could against Chara’s, and got ready for a long night sitting on the edge of the bed with his new human friend and a pie plate.

He fell asleep in seconds.

The next morning, the pie plate would be gone, and his mother would come in later and cheerfully tell them how sweet they had looked sleeping on each other and how glad she was that they were getting along so well. Asriel would laugh when Chara covered their face in their hands and he wouldn’t stop even when he had to duck to avoid the pillow Chara flung at his head.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Asriel would learn many, many more things about Chara.

First, they really hated baths. To be fair, he’d hated baths just as much when he was a baby, but he’d still gotten over it _eventually._ But no matter how often his mother tried to talk them into one, they never even looked at her. Once, he’d watched her just resort to trying to pick them up. It was the same thing she’d used to do to him when he wouldn’t be good – carry him to her room in her arms, saying soothing words until he calmed down. But the instant she'd touched them, Chara had let out a scream that would put any monster to shame, and hadn't stopped until she left the room looking strangely embarrassed.

Secondly, for somebody so skinny (even by what Asriel guessed, from drawings in his history books, were the standards of humans), Chara actually ate _a lot._ They still wouldn’t leave their shared bedroom to eat at the table, no matter how many times Asriel’s mom and dad or even Asriel himself gently asked them to join, but as long as Asriel sat there at their side, they’d tear through multiple helpings of whatever snail-based recipes and sugary desserts his mom could come up with and frown when there wasn’t more. Asriel didn’t eat nearly as much, but he only had to look down to see how much it still showed on him – humans were so lucky!

Third, that Chara apparently really liked their clothes, because they wouldn’t take them off for anything, much less to wear Asriel’s. It wasn’t because they might be different sizes (or were different species), because they refused to even consider it. Even Asriel waving one of his favorite sweaters in front of their face didn’t get a peep out of them. His dad had suggested that perhaps their outfit, being one of their few possessions, just meant a lot to them, but Asriel doubted it – he’d never heard of someone feeling that strongly about clothes.

And fourth, that Chara sleeping in his bed was quickly going to become a normal routine for them.

It always began the same way. Asriel would come into his room, apologize when the light creeping in made Chara groan or roll over or bury their head under their pillow, and he’d change into his pajamas. He’d crawl under his blankets, thinking about his day (and, more than a little bit, about Chara) until, the moment he wasn’t looking, without even the sound of a single footstep, a pair of bright red eyes and a gigantic smile would appear from out of the dark.

“You can’t sleep, Chara?” he’d always say to them, even though he knew it was a silly question. “That’s OK, I couldn’t either.”

And, gently, he’d extend his paw out towards them. Even more gently, Chara would reach out their small hand towards him and take his paw in it, their rough, scarred skin sliding over his fur, across his paw pads. Asriel would suck in a breath, knowing he couldn’t move a single muscle or they’d yank their hand away and flee back to their bed.

They’d rest their hand in his, and he’d give it a light squeeze, and Chara would begin to lift themselves up into the bed. Asriel, still careful not to startle them, would usually help give them an extra pull, but since it took him more effort to pick up one of his books than to pick up Chara, any effort at all tended to just end up pulling them right into him.

But even though it came with a few bumped heads now and then, they’d still usually end up in a pile at each other’s side, facing one another, and that was perfectly fine with Asriel. Sure, they’d both be breathing heavily, and his cheeks would get warm no matter how many times he told himself that it was just because it’d been a long day and he was tired, but those things didn’t really bother Asriel either.

“Good night, Chara,” he’d say to them before closing his eyes. He’d never once seen them close theirs first, but every morning, he’d wake up and Chara would be lying across him, or with their arms wrapped around him, or with their forehead pressed against his, and they’d be fast asleep.

And that was how it was for those next few weeks.

Of course, the only problem with Chara sleeping with him every night was that, well, if he was going to be rude about it, Chara really stank. He wasn’t sure if they’d even bathed beforethey’d fallen down near Home – it was hard to tell with how much dirt and grime they’d picked up just from laying on the ground – but Asriel kind of doubted it. A Woshua would have a fit if they saw them, that was for sure!

It’d gotten to the point where Asriel had started teasing them about it, making a face or making a light joke, but whenever he did, Chara looked towards the ground and blushed in a way that made Asriel feel awful, so he stopped doing that.

One night, though, as they lay facing each other, he’d asked them why they hated baths so much. And they hadn’t really answered, except to hug themselves tightly when he suggested that it wasn’t like his mom would hurt him or anything. Eventually, though, he’d come up with what he thought was a pretty good idea – Chara could take a bath with him, which would be OK since they were both kids. And, if they wanted to, they could keep their clothes on.

And Chara had, although they didn’t look very sure about it, agreed... as long as Asriel’s mom wasn’t there. And that’s how Asriel found himself the next day in the makeshift bathroom his father had made, a giant bucket filled with water in the middle of the floor, Chara having a staring contest with a wall.

“OK, ready!” Asriel shouted at them, cupping his mouth with his paws, even though Chara was only a few feet away.

Slowly, Chara turned their head towards him, just enough that Asriel could make out part of one eye and the edge of their smile. Slowly - very, very slowly - they turned around the rest of the way, their smile never leaving their face, and Asriel suddenly felt even more naked than he was.

But then Asriel saw why they were turning around so slowly.

“Chara!” he said, laughing so hard his stomach started to hurt. “Your face... your face is so red!”

Chara’s eyes widened, and then they narrowed them at him.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” said Asriel, although he knew he didn’t really sound very sorry at all. “It’s just... it's just so funny!”

Chara narrowed their eyes further, but then they sighed and walked towards the bucket. It was a pretty big bucket, large enough for his whole family, so it was more than big enough for both of them.

As soon as Chara had climbed in, their hole-filled shirt billowing out around them, they took a deep breath and dived under the water. Asriel was confused at first, then concerned when they didn’t raise their head back out of the water for several seconds longer than he could hold his own breath.

Just when he went from Concerned to Terrified, Chara rose back up. It didn't look very dramatic – their hair, which had been getting longer and longer recently, didn’t swoop back so much as flop in front of their face, and they started spitting out water they must have accidentally started swallowing.

Asriel laughed again, but Chara either didn’t notice or was just ignoring him. They only rubbed furiously at their hair, so roughly that tiny brown strands started to pool around them. Asriel reached over and handed them some shampoo (especially made for monster fur, as it said on the bottle, but he figured it was probably fine) from the side of the bucket, and Chara only looked at it as if they weren't sure what to make of it before shrugging and applying it.

Then they dived again. Asriel had never seen anything like this – well, he’d only ever bathed with his parents until very recently, but now that he had grown up, he liked how relaxing a good bath could be. But Chara seemed to treat this as if they were in a rush to get out, which Asriel thought was kind of weird.

Shrugging, Asriel started to wash himself, until Chara came back out of the water again and he couldn’t keep himself from continuing to stare at them. Chara must have noticed, because they looked at him and glared, even though their glare looked very weird when they didn’t stop smiling to do it, and Asriel looked away until they started washing themself again.

He couldn’t keep himself from peeking when Chara rolled up their sleeves and started to rub water on their bare arms either. He knew he shouldn’t, not really, but he was just so curious – he had been since the first day they’d met, ever since he’d saw them pull down their sleeves to hide something there from him. But he wished he hadn’t right away. Their arms were a criss-cross of scars, some small, and some large, some nearly the color of their skin, some a dark red, many covered in a criss-cross of colorful, barely-attached bandages.

The only thing Asriel had got for his trouble was a queasy feeling in his gut that wouldn’t go away no matter how much he looked away or tried to think of something else. He wondered if he should be honest about how he’d peeked, or even if he should ask them about it, when he had a sudden idea.

“Hey, Chara,” he said, and Chara’s head snapped up towards him, only for a wave of water to hit them in the face. “Got you!”

Somehow, considering the smile on the face, Chara didn't look very amused.

“Aww, geez... sorry, Chara...”

* * *

The last thing Asriel learned about Chara during those weeks is that he had been wrong about how much he could help them.

It had almost been a normal evening. Chara had been eating a snail-based pasta while Asriel talked and talked to them about his new book, a collection of monster fairy tales, when they’d suddenly dropped the plate onto their lap. Startled, Asriel tried to ask them what was wrong, but Chara didn’t seem to be listening. They only stared at their freshly-sewn shirt with wide eyes, then at their blankets, their pillows, at Asriel himself.

Their smile had disappeared.

Before Asriel could have said a word, Chara had flinched away, the fork falling out of their hands. They’d bolted, on all fours, towards the blankets on their side of the room, diving under them and pulling them so close to themself that it didn’t look as if they could breathe through them.

Asriel had tried, tried really, really hard, to speak to them, to tell them it was alright, whatever was wrong, that they didn’t need to be scared, whatever they were scared of, but Chara was completely silent, even after Asriel slipped into panic and burst into tears.

So he’d ran to the dining room, crying the whole time, to his mom and dad, eventually blubbering out an explanation of what had happened. Asgore had replied by getting on one knee, hugging him tightly, and explaining that it wasn’t his fault, that no, Chara didn’t hate him. Chara, he said, was like all creatures, monster and human alike - they just needed some space. Asriel had nodded without really understanding.

His mother took that moment to suggest that maybe he’d like to spend the rest of the evening in the living room, coloring or reading a book. Before he’d had time to answer, she’d already walked out of the room and down the hallway to fetch Asriel’s things.

When she came back, Asriel couldn’t help but notice the frown on her face, the way she looked at her father and shook her head. He’d noticed, too, the way his father had stiffened uncomfortably, before she could cheerfully brush the whole thing aside with talk of crayons and fairy tales.

Asriel had spent the rest of the evening at the table, coloring, but always with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach that was only made worse every time his parents talked quietly to each other about “the human,” or every time they noticed he’d stopped coloring to listen closer and they’d make an excuse to walk into another room.

He’d taken that uneasy feeling with him when, after promising his parents that he’d be fine sleeping in his bedroom as usual, he’d changed into his pajamas and gone to bed. And it remained with him every time he rolled over, unable to close his eyes, to stare at the nearby wall or the ceiling or at any other direction but Chara’s.

He wondered when Chara would come over, like they’d done every single night since that night, which felt so long ago now. But tonight, no matter how deliberately he looked away from their side of the room, they hadn’t appeared. The room stayed, except for Asriel’s own breathing, eerily silent.

Asriel clenched his paws. He knew what his dad had told him about leaving Chara alone, but he couldn’t take it anymore – he was starting to feel like if he had to spend another minute like this, another minute alone, he was going to get really, really upset.

So he got up and approached the cocoon of tightly-wrapped green blankets, completely still, as if nothing had changed since hours ago. He noticed in the back of his mind the plate of pasta was gone – his mother usually cleaned up after them, so he figured she must have taken it. He couldn't see the fork they'd dropped either.

“Chara?”

No reply. His paw shaking, he gripped an edge of the blanket and gave a slight tug.

Something under the blanket hissed, or maybe growled, or snarled, or a combination of all three at the same time. The sound didn’t even make Asriel jump – he heard weirder noises from monsters almost every day – but it wasn’t a sound he’d ever heard from _Chara_.

Gripping the blanket harder, he pulled it away.

With difficulty, his eyes took in what was in front of him. The blanket, wrapped tightly around Chara’s left arm. The fork, laying in front of them. Chara themself, breathing heavily, staring straight at him with their eyes wider than he thought human eyes should be capable of, their mouth twisted into a smile so lopsided it could barely even be called a smile.

Asriel took a step back, clapping his paws over his mouth. He couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing, had never seen anything like it, but at the same time, everything in front of him somehow made perfect sense. It was like the answer finally clicking for a puzzle he'd been stuck on for weeks.

“Chara,” he whispered, feeling himself start to cry. They looked away, their face darkening.

“Don’t tell them.”

It wasn’t phrased like a request.

“I... I can’t!” yelled Asriel, quickly glancing back toward the door. Chara laughed a low, dark laugh. “I mean, I - I have to!”

“I won't ever forgive you.”

“I don’t care!”

And he turned, nearly stumbling, running towards the door before they could say another word. He didn’t have to go far – he opened the door and nearly crashed into his mother, already standing at the doorframe, looking concerned.

Briefly, he thought about what Chara had just said and considered lying, telling her that nothing was wrong. It would have been a terrible lie anyway, with his fur stained with tears and his voice probably shaking, but he couldn’t even try – he told her the truth, as best as he could understand it.

His mother merely wiped his tears and told him to wait a moment. With a calmness he couldn’t understand either, she walked over to Chara’s bedside. Asriel, not willing to get near them again for far too many reasons, stood on the other side of the room as Chara made that same noise at her, as the sound and glow of green magic spread across the room, as his mother walked away with the fork in her hands, looking more haggard than he’d ever seen her.

He stayed in his father’s room that night, but sleep wouldn’t come. His mother made the choice to stay in his room in his place, firmly stating it was what was best for them both and not taking Asgore’s suggestion that he could stay instead for an answer, but all that meant for Asriel was that he spent that night constantly fearing that Chara was feeling alone and miserable and trapped. The next few nights were the same way, spent next to his equally sleepless father, being afraid this was how it was going to be for the rest of their lives.

Even when he tried going back into their room during the day, just to check on them, Chara refused to even come out of their blanket, much less speak to him. They wouldn’t speak to him again until a few nights later, when he’d heard the door to his room open and he'd walked out of his father’s room to see, to his surprise, Chara creeping toward the kitchen.

He went to his room first, to check on his mother, who had fallen asleep still sitting in her chair – he felt a jolt of pity, wondering how long it’d been since she’d slept - but he followed them quickly. He picked up the pace when he heard a series of horrible noises from the kitchen: clanking metal, the repeated and very loud slamming of a drawer, a wooden crunch, the deafening clatter of what sounded like a thousand metallic objects all crashing to the floor.

When he finally reached the kitchen, fear froze him in place as if his SOUL had been weighted down. He couldn't even bring himself to turn the corner.

He swallowed, his breathing heavy. He knew he had to do it. He had been the one to see them, to hear them. His mother had fallen asleep, and if she knew that she'd been the one to let them escape and do... whatever it was they had done... it would be really bad for her.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he turned the corner before he could stop himself again, then reopened his eyes.

The first thing he saw were the spoons all over the narrow kitchen, like pieces of shattered glass. The second thing was the silverware drawer, or rather, what was left of it. Both sides had caved in on themselves in the fall, leaving a twisted husk of wood, all sharp edges pointing inwards.

None of that mattered next to Chara, still in their old clothes, squatting in the middle of the spoons. They were turned away from him, towards the remains of the drawer.

“Chara?” he said, quietly.

They didn’t reply.

Unsure what else to do, he walked in front of them, stepping carefully over the spoons, the pieces of wood. He looked down at them and flinched - they were staring at the floor with wide eyes and wild pupils, their hands buried in the tangled mass of their hair, tiny brown strands on the ground.

They still didn't move. They didn't even seem to breathe. Carefully, as carefully as he could, almost afraid of what they’d do, he reached over and wrapped his arms around them. They remained just as still as before, not even moving an inch, like a statue, so he pulled them closer, holding them until they eventually, finally, buried their head in his shoulder.

And they screamed, and screamed, and screamed.

“This is your fault,” they eventually snarled, their voice hoarser than ever.

And Asriel, not knowing what else to say, choked back tears and said one thing back.

“I’m sorry.”

* * *

The next day, Asriel suggested to his parents that he should start sleeping in his room again. His father only looked rather helplessly at his mother, who politely, cheerfully suggested that she and the human were making progress, that they would only need a few more days to get over their illness and then Asriel could spend time with them as much as he wanted.

“They won’t get better,” he replied, and the slight frown that crept into his mother’s expression seemed to say to him that she knew that too. “I mean, not like this. They... they don’t need someone to watch over them all night. They need someone to be their friend.”

He met her gaze. “So I’m gonna sleep there tonight.”

And she replied, “No.”

For a moment, Asriel was too stunned to think – his mother could be stern, sometimes, in her own way, but for her to just say “no” like that wasn’t like her. But at the same time, he felt sure, surer than he did about a lot of things, that for one of the first times in his life, he was right and his mother was wrong.

Before either of them could say anything else, he stomped off to his room, not-very-quietly shut the door behind him, plopped down on his bed, crossed his arms, and made a solemn promise that he wouldn’t move no matter what. It didn’t take long before he heard the two sets of heavy footsteps coming down the hallway, alongside his mother and father speaking words he couldn’t quite hear.

“Just one night” was among them.

When those words were said, the voices, the footsteps, came to a stop, and there was a deep sigh from the other side of the door before his mother’s voice spoke.

“Very well, dearest one. You may stay.”

There was a short pause before she spoke again.

“But... if you feel you must have a midnight snack again, please be more careful with the silverware drawer this time. Your father worked very hard to fix it.”

“Took all day, you know.”

“Also, if I may add, please avoid midnight snacks. They are terrible for your diet and will keep you awake all night.”

Swallowing first so his voice didn’t crack, Asriel told them that was fine and he was very sorry and that he’d never eat a snack again, and the footsteps retreated.

“You lied to them,” said Chara’s voice.

With a jolt, Asriel spun around towards them. They were staring at him from under the pile of blankets on the other side of the room, still smiling even with their head tilted in apparent confusion.

 _Chara,_ Asriel thought.

“Chara!” Asriel shouted, bounding out of his bed and running straight towards them. Their eyes widened, but before they had time to duck back under the blankets, Asriel had already wrapped a pair of sweater-clad arms around their torso. “Chara!”

Shutting his eyes tight and hugging them even tighter, Asriel buried his head into the crook of their neck and nuzzled his furry cheek against theirs. Now it was Chara’s turn to stiffen, but Asriel barely even noticed.

“I was so worried! After, after that one time, I thought… I thought I’d never get to see you again, and you were gonna be lonely, and scared, and…”

Asriel felt his fur getting wet and he knew, even though he had shut his eyes shut tight for exactly this reason, that he’d started crying. Normally, he might have been really embarrassed - what kind of cool, grown-up prince of all monsters cried? - but part of him knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself and part of him didn’t even care to try.

“Chara,” he murmured into their shirt, choking back a sob. “I’m so happy…”

Chara didn’t move or say anything for a long while, no matter how long or hard Asriel kept crying, no matter how tightly he squeezed his paws into their shirt like he was afraid Chara might turn into dust right in front of him.

“I… I’m happy too,” they eventually managed to say, speaking slowly, as if they had to carefully consider every word.

Asriel sniffled, breaking away from the hug so he could rub his paws under his eyes and look Chara in their huge red eyes. Their tightly-wound smile, as usual, didn't tell Asriel anything.

“You are?”

One side of Chara’s smile twitched the tiniest amount.

“Yes,” they said, without nodding. “I… missed you.”

Asriel’s eyes hurt from crying, and his fur was still wet, and there was even snot in it which was awful, but he could still feel his confused frown break into a wide, wavy smile. He almost wanted to hug Chara again, but he knew if he did, he’d just end up crying even more, and he’d done enough of that for one night.

“W-well, in that case!” Asriel shouted, before realizing it was getting late at night and lowering his voice. “I’ve… I’ve decided!”

Chara blinked at him.

“That I’m never leaving your side again, Chara! Never!”

“Excuse me? _”_

“You’re part of my family!” Asriel pushed on, putting his paws on Chara’s shoulders. Chara took their eyes away from Asriel himself long enough to look over at them, then looked back, all the while scooting slightly backwards. “And that… that makes you royalty too, right? So I’m going to make it my duty to protect you and keep you safe! Like a royal guard!”

Chara’s smile still hadn’t left their face, but their raised eyebrows suggested there had been so much wrong with those sentences that they didn’t even know where to start. But, instead of waiting for their response, Asriel did what he didn’t consider wasn’t a universal gesture among humans and leaned forward, tilting his forehead towards theirs.

“That’s a promise, OK?”

Chara’s eyes crossed to stare directly at Asriel’s forehead, inches from their own, but rather than run to hide under the blankets or whatever else Asriel was half-afraid Chara might do next, they let out a long sigh. Cautiously, as if unsure what they were supposed to be doing, they tilted their head and pressed their forehead against Asriel’s.

“It’s agreed.”

* * *

Asriel knocked on his bedroom door. From across the hallway, peeking through the dining room doorframe, both his parents watched with hopeful smiles – even though Asriel had specifically asked them not to do that, just in case Chara somehow figured out they were there.

It felt a little weird, knocking on the door to his own bedroom. Even after they’d bathed together multiple times, Chara still cared a lot about their privacy – although it made Asriel's gut twist to think about why that was.

“Er, um, Chara,” Asriel tried, bouncing on his feet and trying to keep his mind off of those thoughts. “Can I...?”

There was complete silence from inside the room. Asriel tapped his claws against each other and waited, and waited, until he absentmindedly found himself counting the specks of long-dried yellow paint on his bedroom door.

Faintly, Asriel heard a grunt from the other side.

“...Chara? Are you OK?”

There was a very long pause before Chara’s voice spoke, so quietly Asriel barely heard it.

“I... I’ve trapped myself.”

“You’re... stuck?”

“...Yes.”

Asriel reached for the doorknob, then hesitated. “OK... um, I’m gonna come in then, alright, Chara?”

Chara didn’t reply, so hoping that had been enough of a warning, Asriel shot his parents a “don’t worry” glance and opened the door. When he did, he had to try and keep himself from laughing. There were Chara’s old clothes, their faded shirt and hole-filled pants, folded neatly on their bed, and there was Chara themself on the red rug in the center of the room. Asriel’s favorite old sweater was pulled down to just above their stomach, its long sleeves dangling, a mess of green and yellow where their head should have been.

He couldn’t help it - he still ended up letting out a snicker.

“Doff’t,” said Chara’s voice, heavily muffled by layers of fabric.

“Sorry, sorry,” Asriel said, although he realized his laughter didn't make it sound very sincere.

Glad he couldn’t see Chara probably glaring at him, he walked up to them and reached his hands out for the sweater, before remembering one of the most important Chara Rules: do not touch the human without their permission.

He coughed, attempting a more serious tone of voice. “Can I help?”

“Dofftaffkfifficufousdqueffions,” mumbled Chara, which Asriel mentally translated as “please, thank you.”

With that permission granted, Asriel stood on his tiptoes (wait, he thought, when had he needed to do that?), groped his paws through the fabric until he found the hole where Chara’s head was supposed to go through, and tugged, and tugged, and tugged.

“It’s kind of a mess,” he said, circling around them with his paw under his chin. “But I think this should be OK... ready, Chara?”

Rather than wait for an answer, he grabbed hold of the sweater with both paws and yanked it down. With an actually audible _pop_ , Chara’s head burst out of the top – and Asriel stifled another laugh because it looked like the sweater hadn’t agreed with their hair. Rather than their usual bowl cut, it looked like Asriel’s own fur after a bath, every end sticking in every possible direction, their eyes covered by a tangled curtain of dark brown hair.

Even their smile had turned into a grimace. And with the way their arms were buried under the sweater, making them look for all the world like a very strange, very annoyed, monster, well, Asriel had a feeling that if he didn’t keep himself from laughing, he wouldn’t ever stop.

“I wasn’t ready,” said Chara, miserably.

“Oh,” said Asriel, immediately feeling guilty.

Almost without thinking, he reached out for Chara’s bangs, pushing them out of the way of their eyes, tucking them behind their ears so that they wouldn’t just fall back in front of their face. Then he reached up and patted down the stray strands, doing as best he could to straighten their hair in light of how much they had now. Their hair hadn’t used to be long enough for them to need to worry about things like their bangs, but human hair (like, apparently, humans) grew fast. If it kept growing at the rate it did, well, Chara’d just fit in better with the rest of his family, right?

“Are you OK?” said Asriel, looking into their eyes. Unlike the rest of them, the dark markings under their eyes had shrunk - Asriel smiled when he noticed, a surge of pride going through him.

“I’m alright,” they replied, and the corners of their grimace turned upwards into something resembling a smile. It was a little lopsided and barely wide enough for most monsters to have thought of it as a smile, but it was a real smile, something Asriel had only seen once before, when they had fallen asleep on his side a few months ago.

As soon as he saw it, something else he couldn’t place surged through him. For lack of a better way to describe it, it was like something warm had rushed from out of Chara into Asriel’s SOUL and then spread back out through his whole body, leaving him feeling strangely... giddy.

Asriel shook his head and tried to focus. “W-well, anyway! Let’s fix those sleeves!”

He set to work on straightening out the sleeves so Chara could more easily get their arms through them and tried to push aside that warm feeling. He didn’t understand why but, even though Chara seemed just as distracted by trying to get the rest of their sweater on, some part of him really hoped what he was feeling wasn’t visible on his face.

Just as Chara threaded their other arm through the sleeve and Asriel stepped aside to take a closer look, two voices spoke from the doorway.

“Oh!”

“Er, Tori... I think we were supposed to be... what’s the word... ‘stealthy’?”

Before Asriel could even blink, Chara’s confused expression snapped back to their usual ear-to-ear smile. He turned around towards the doorway, feeling a strange sense of embarrassment that made even less sense than whatever other feelings he had been having, and – of course – there were his parents, his mom with a wide smile and her paws clasped in front of her chest, his dad looking a little bit embarrassed himself.

“Mom! Dad!” Asriel groaned, glaring at them. “I told you not to!”

“I am very sorry, dearest one,” his mother said. “But we heard the two of you talking and... I just could not bring myself not to take a peek.”

“You know how your mother can be, Asriel,” said his father.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” she replied, but there was a smile in her voice, and his father started nuzzling his nose against hers. Asriel stuck out his tongue and quickly turned his attention back to Chara.

Chara’s appearance had completely changed - their shoulders were hunched, their arms were stiff at their sides, and their hands were clenched into fists. When Asriel looked back towards his parents, he must have had some look on his face, because they turned back to him and his mother’s smile softened and his father’s brows creased in concern.

“Ah, well, we should be going,” said his father, scratching the back of his head. “But you look quite dashing in that sweater, human.”

“Yes, those clothes seem to match you perfectly,” his mother added. “I will go and tend to making the four of us lunch.”

With that, the two of them walked away, although not before one last glance into the bedroom, and Asriel quickly turned his full attention back to Chara again. They looked the same as before, but their eyes were turned downward, and their shoulders were shaking, so softly Asriel could barely see it.

Asriel didn’t take a moment to think - he just swept his arms around them and pulled them into a hug. With probably just as much thought, Chara wrapped their arms around him in return and pulled him even closer, burying their head in his shoulder, nuzzling their cheek against the fur of his neck.

Normally, Asriel was sure he would have felt that strange giddy feeling flowing through him again, but he couldn’t even think about that, especially not when Chara’s shoulders started to shake even harder as they began to sob. All he felt instead, as he hugged them as gently as he could, was the memory of him promising to keep them safe.

And he would, he told himself. From anything, from anyone, no matter what.

* * *

That same night, while Chara laid pressed against Asriel’s back, their arms wrapped around his waist, one question burned in Asriel’s mind until he finally couldn’t keep himself from asking it.

“Chara...” he whispered, waiting until they made a murmur of acknowledgment before he continued. “Are Mom and Dad scary to you?”

“Don’t call them that.”

Asriel turned towards them, startled by their tone, but he couldn’t see them or their expression. As soon as he tried to move, he felt their arms around him tighten.

“But why? They are my Mom and Dad...”

“They’re not _my_ ” - Chara paused, their voice lowering to a murmur - _“_ mother and father.”

“Oh.” Asriel swallowed, a horrible realization coming over him. He felt a sense of regret that he had ever asked the question at all – no wonder they’d look so confused when he’d called them part of his family. “OK.”

The room fell into almost complete silence, except for the two of them breathing, a sound the silence only seemed to make louder.

“W-well,” he went on eventually, his stomach churning, “um, if it helps, I don’t really think of you as, er, a sibling? Either?”

“What?"

Asriel shot up, breaking free of Chara’s grip, and Chara slowly rose to look at him, squinting at him with their bright red eyes.

“Not – not in a bad way!” he said, raising his hands. He had a really strong urge to bury his head in his paws. “I mean, to me, you’re more like...”

Chara raised an eyebrow.

“A friend?” said Asriel.

“A... friend?” Chara repeated.

“Y-yeah! You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, Chara!”

Chara merely frowned, although Asriel couldn’t tell if it was because of disbelief or pity.

“I... I always want to be around you,” he continued, staring down at his claws as he tapped them together. “I like hanging out with you, and I like that you seem to like hanging out with me, and I like talking to you, and I always feel happy when you’re around, and I always want to make sure you’re happy too.”

He looked back up at Chara, staring directly into their eyes.

“Isn’t that what a best friend is?”

Chara stared at him for a moment, then flopped back down onto the bed.

“I’m going back to sleep.”

“Chara!” Asriel whined, feeling himself start to cry, but Chara ignored him. With a defeated sigh, Asriel laid back down and tried to sleep himself. But that strange feeling in his gut whenever he was around Chara was even stronger, and the more he thought about what he’d said to them, the worse it got and the harder it was for him to sleep.

In the end, he didn’t sleep much at all that night.

* * *

“Raaaaaaaaaaawr!”

Asriel shook his favorite toy – a stuffed boss monster, like himself, that Toriel had hand-sewn for him when he was so young that he still went by “they” - at Chara, who only stared at the effigy as if unsure what to make of it.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaawr!” he tried again.

Asriel wasn’t sure why he was trying this, since Chara had never responded to his attempts to play with them before, but Chara had been strangely moody ever since he’d asked that question. Well, Chara was usually a little moody, but Asriel could tell when they were really moody, because they’d stay under their blankets and act like he wasn’t there and only smile that weird smile they always had.

So, determined to at least put a real smile on their face, he shook it again.

“Look out, Chara! If you don’t do something, it’s going to get you!” He pushed it towards them. “Raaaaaaaaaaaa-”

Before he could even finish, Chara slapped it out of his hands, and it went flying across the bed, landing upside-down in the opposite corner.

Asriel stared at it, then looked back at Chara, who merely smiled that same smile, and before he knew what was happening, he felt himself burst into tears. Chara sat up from under the blankets, their eyes widening, and started to reach out towards him before stopping, freezing with their hands partially outstretched.

“I-I-I’m sorry!” Asriel sobbed, rubbing his paws under his eyes. “I just... you seemed really unhappy, and I-I wanted to make you feel better, so... so...”

Asriel couldn’t manage to say anything else, he just kept crying and crying. Even when he tried to open his eyes, his tears prevented him from seeing Chara at all, which was maybe for the best - maybe he could pretend Chara wasn’t right in front of him, seeing him cry like a little kid.

“Rawr.”

Asriel stopped crying and blinked, wiping his tears from his eyes. When he could see again, he stared directly into the button eyes of the stuffed monster. Peeking around it, he looked at Chara, who was holding it out with both hands, the ever-present blush on their cheeks an even deeper shade of red.

“Rawwwwwwwwwr.”

Chara gave it a light shake and, in spite of himself, Asriel started to laugh. “Chara? What are you doing?”

“Chara?” said Chara. “No, it’s... the strongest of all monsters, Asriel Dreemurr!”

Chara pushed it towards him.

“His attack and HP are infinite,” they continued, their voice completely serious. “He also knows the most powerful attacks of any monster. He’s completely invincible – all those he fights can only run away.”

Asriel started laughing harder. “But I can’t -”

“That’s not all! Not only is he the most powerful monster, but he also has his best friend, the demon Chara, to fight at his side!”

Then Chara looked straight at him. They grinned, exposing sharpened teeth, and their eyes started to roll into the back of their head. When Asriel took a step back, their grin seemed to get wider, and wider, and wider, well past the point Asriel thought grins should be able to go, and then further still. It seemed to fill their whole face.

Before Asriel could scream, sure this was some kind of nightmare, Chara leaped off the bed, both the plush and Chara themself flying towards him. Asriel managed to hold up his arms, but it was too late – Chara’s thin, tall body rammed straight into him, knocking him to the floor. Asriel felt the wind get knocked out of him, more from the impact with the ground than Chara, who sat on top of him, Asriel’s stuffed toy pinned between them.

Chara started laughing, their laughter high-pitched and uneven, and they kept laughing, and laughing, and Asriel blinked as he realized that their laughter was real.

They were just playing! Chara was playing with him!

And that made Asriel laugh too, and he couldn’t stop laughing either, even when tears started to come out of his eyes all over again.

Chara did eventually stop laughing. They laid down on top of him, wrapping their arms around him as best they could.

“Please don’t cry.”

Asriel went silent too, leaving the entire room completely quiet.

“Sorry.”

Chara replied by hugging him even tighter.

“...You crybaby.”

“I said sorry!”

* * *

The boss monster toy started to show up as much when Asriel slept as Chara themself. It stayed on their bed rather than his, and every night, Chara would take it with them when they came for their “can’t sleep, Chara?” routine. And, every night, Chara would take it back with them when they moved back into their own bed come morning.

Asriel never asked why, but every time he saw Chara hugging it, every time he thought about Chara hugging it, even when he was out of the room reading a book or helping his mom cook or his dad garden, he’d get that giddy feeling rushing through him again. Once, his dad had asked him why he looked so happy, and he hadn’t been able to come up with a good answer.

“Well, I’m pleased you’re enjoying gardening so much, Asriel,” his dad had said.


	2. I Never Asked For To Find My Twin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of other things legends don't talk about: height charts, knitting, gardening, the long sessions playing, the fights, the apologies. Not to mention just what those golden flowers really mean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Circle me and the needle moves gracefully  
>  Back and forth, if my heart was a compass you'd be North  
> Risk it all cause I'll catch you if you fall  
> Wherever you go, if my heart was a house you'd be home_
> 
> \- If My Heart Was A House, Owl City

Toriel stood behind Chara with a pair of scissors held up to their neck. She opened them with a _click,_ and Chara flinched, their hands tightening into fists. Beads of sweat rolled down their face, onto the chair they were sitting on.

Asriel sat next to them, a paw on Chara’s hand, rubbing it gently. Chara unclenched their fists, their shoulders drooping, but they continued to stare straight ahead. Their smile seemed strained.

Before, Chara had insisted (and, as quiet as they were, that had been a sight to see) that they could cut their own hair. That they should be the one to have the scissors. Toriel had only said that, seeing as she was Asriel’s mother, she was a professional. Chara had clammed up afterwards - Asriel knew there was no arguing with his mom. Maybe Chara had just realized that too.

But, now that they were actually in the chair, Asriel could tell that Chara was having second thoughts. They weren’t crying, but he just had to take one look at them and it was obvious they were getting upset.

“Chara...” Asriel started to say, and his mother took the scissors away, frowning. “Do you not want to do this? You don’t have to."

He heard Chara swallow.

“No, I want to,” they said, shaking their head. “I’m the one who asked for this.”

Asriel opened his mouth to speak. Before he could get a word out, his mother walked in front of Chara, crouching down to their height.

“Asriel is quite right, my child,” she said. “I did not wish to make you uncomfortable... and yet it seems I have. For that, I apologize. If you would prefer we do this some other time, I will respect your wishes.”

Suddenly, she brightened.

“Ah!” she said, smiling. “I have an idea. Would it please you if, instead of cutting your hair myself, I allowed Asriel to do it in my stead?”

“Mom!” Asriel hissed, even though Chara was right in front of him. “I can’t cut hair!”

“Oh, do not fret, dearest one. I will be here to guide you.”

Chara’s eyes darted between the two of them, their smile as strained as before, as they seemed to think it over: did they want Asriel’s mother to cut their hair? Or did they want someone who’d just said they’d never cut hair before anywhere near their skin?

“Very well,” they said, sighing. “Give them to Asriel.”

“Certainly,” said Toriel, standing up. She turned towards Asriel and handed him the scissors. He stared at them as if his mother had handed him a sword, but he carefully stuck his fingers through the rings.

He looked towards Chara, to be sure that this is what they actually wanted, and Chara nodded at him. Gulping, Asriel walked around to the back of their head.

Their hair had gotten longer and longer, even since the last time he’d looked at it. It had always looked like a real mess, but it had gone down past their ears and past their shoulders. He had no idea how they’d kept it so short and tidy when they’d first met, if their parents were... like he thought they were. Had Chara really been cutting it themselves?

His mother stood behind him, smiling down at him and wordlessly pointing out where he should place the scissors.

“Ready, Chara?” he asked.

“Not even remotely,” they replied. “But get it over with.”

He nodded, even though he was more than a little afraid he was about to murder them. He set the scissors where his mom had pointed to. When he snapped them shut, he flinched, the sound of metal scraping against metal too loud. Chara flinched too.

“Please, I know it is hard, but try your best to be still,” said Toriel. He couldn’t tell – was she talking about him or them?

Trying his best to calm his nerves, Asriel set the scissors over another set of strands and snipped again, more gently this time. His mother smiled, enclosing her paws over his when he set the scissors a bit off. Even Chara seemed to get calmer as he snipped again, and again, and again, more of Chara’s dark brown hair falling to the bedroom floor.

“Talk to them, dearest one,” Toriel whispered. Asriel nodded.

“So, Chara,” he tried, but he couldn’t think of anything to say, so he only added half-heartedly, “how was your day?”

“Mmph,” Chara mumbled.

“Uh, well, mine was good? I drew something!”

“Mmm.”

“I wanted to draw Asriel Dreemurr, the most powerful monster ever! And his best friend Chara, of course! But I thought it was kind of weird if they were as old as us? So I drew them grown up!”

“Huh.”

“I can’t wait to show you! I haven’t colored them in yet, but... they’re really, really cool!”

“Oh.”

A wide smile on her face, Toriel motioned for Asriel to move around to a different side of Chara’s head. He followed behind her, continuing to talk. Chara mostly mumbled in reply as Asriel snipped and snipped, until he moved from one side of their head to their bangs to the other side. The pile of hair on the floor grew larger and larger.

“Very good, dearest one,” said his mother, reaching over to the pile of supplies she had laid on his bed and picking up a mirror. Without really thinking about it, Asriel brushed some strands of brown hair off of Chara’s sweater.

When his mother held up the mirror, Chara looked at the familiar bob. Their bangs were neatly cut above their eyes, the back of their hair swept in a straight line above their shoulders. They reached up, pressing a hand against the back of it, as if to check that what they were seeing in front of them was real.

Chara didn’t say anything, but their expression – their red eyes wide, their mouth hanging open just slightly – said as much as them having a real expression on their face at all. Both Toriel and Asriel looked down at them, smiling. Bit by bit, the sides of their mouth moved upwards into a smile in reply – a real smile. Asriel grinned at them.  
  
“Now, Asriel, would you be a dear and help me sweep?” said Toriel, motioning towards the pile of brown hair puddled around Chara’s chair.  
  
“Awwww, Mom,” he started to complain, but then he looked up at her face and saw the tears in the corner of her eyes, the tremendous smile on her face. There was just no way he could say no to her after that.

* * *

“Can’t sleep, Chara? That’s alright, I – oof!”

Asriel blinked at Chara, who had climbed onto the bed without any help and almost tackled him into a hug, pulling him tight to their chest.

“Thank you.”

“F-for what?”

“Cutting my hair, of course,” they said, as it was the most obvious thing in the world. But Asriel felt, once again, that swell of pride.

“Any time, Chara.”

* * *

Asriel usually delivered Chara their meals, since they never left their room, and this day was no different. Once lunch was made, he took the peanut butter and snail jelly sandwiches (with the crusts cut off), thanked his mother for the meal, and started to walk down the hallway to his room.

But this time, he came to such a sudden stop that he nearly tripped and dropped both plates. Chara was standing at the hallway’s entrance, peeking around the corner, their face frozen in their usual smile.

Asriel felt his fur stand on end. Chara was _outside their bedroom._

“Chara?!”

He heard, behind him, the creak of huge wooden chairs being moved.

“Are you OK?!” he said. He stumbled closer, being as careful as he could not to drop anything. “Did something happen?”

Chara’s eyes looked up past him. Asriel turned around and saw his parents, frowning from the doorframe. He watched as his mom waved toward the living room and the two of them walked away, leaving just him and Chara again.

Asriel looked back towards Chara, and Chara looked back towards Asriel. Asriel felt himself shiver. Whatever they were about to say, he almost didn’t want to know.

But instead of replying, Chara shook their head. Asriel didn’t feel better at all.

“You’re... not OK?”

Chara shook their head again.

“Chara... I don't know what that means...”

Chara huffed, looking down towards the floor. When they spoke, their voice was quiet. “I was famished. I wished to eat.”

 _Oh,_ Asriel thought, feeling himself start to grin. _Oh!_

“With us?” he asked, not even trying to hide the excitement in his voice. “With all of us?”

Chara nodded. Asriel felt like cheering, but decided that’d be weird. Instead, smiling from ear-to-ear, he held out one of the plates towards them. Gently, they took it in one hand, and Asriel didn’t hesitate to grab their free hand and slowly walk them towards the dining room.

“Mom! Dad!” Asriel shouted. “Chara’s going to eat with us!”

“Ah, how wonderful!” said his mom’s voice. “Gorey, dearest... would you be so kind as to fetch the chair for them?”

When Asriel walked into the dining room, Chara in hand, his dad was standing, his paws glowing with magical energy. A yellow sphere formed between them, and from the sphere, a small wooden chair appeared out of thin air. He set it down in front of Chara.

Asriel thought his dad showing off his ability to store things with magic was, well, show-offy. And, if he was honest, he was just a little bit jealous. But he looked at Chara, who looked at what had just happened with eyes that almost seemed to glow.

“This is for you, human,” his dad said, obvious pride in his voice. “I crafted it myself, the day that you first came here... although, of course, I didn’t know how long it would take you to use it.”

“Which is not to suggest we would think any less of you for it, my child,” his mom added. “These things do take time.”

“Yes, that is quite true. I am – that is to say, _we_ are – just happy that you have decided to join us today.”

“Well, dear, we should set the table so the children can eat.”

“Ah, yes. Of course.”

His father rearranged the table, effortlessly picking up the chairs and putting them in new places. He set Chara’s chair next to Asriel’s, while he set Toriel’s and his own chairs on opposite ends of the table.

He sat on one end, and Toriel sat on the other, both of them looking expectantly towards Asriel and Chara. Asriel felt Chara’s grip on his hand tighten.

“It’s OK, Chara!” he said to them, still grinning. “You're not bothering anybody.”

Still holding Chara’s hand, he led them towards the chairs. He set his plate in front of his own chair, already old and worn. Chara looked back and forth between him and his parents, as if expecting them all to suddenly change their minds. When nothing happened, they set their own plate down and climbed into their chair, untouched and new.

Asriel was in the mood to jump right onto his chair, but he knew his mom would scold him if he did, so he took his seat properly, like a respectful prince should. His eyes stayed locked on Chara the entire time. He noticed that so were his mom’s, and so were his dad’s.

Chara’s eyes darted between the three of them. They looked very much, to Asriel, like they wanted to leave.

“Well!” said Asgore, taking a bite of his sandwich and very pointedly not looking in Chara’s direction. “Did I tell you about my day today? It was quite exciting.”

“No, dear,” said Toriel, just as pointedly looking at Asgore. “But I would love to hear about it.”

“Yeah, Dad, tell us!” Asriel added.

“Well, let me see...” his father continued, taking a bite of his sandwich and daintily wiping the crumbs off his beard with a napkin. “I was on my daily walk, passing through Hotland, when I ran into a very young monster. There was a puzzle, you see, and the poor child just couldn’t seem to make heads or tails of it.”

Asriel took a bite of his sandwich, and his mother took a bite of hers, the two of them nodding along as Asgore continued his story. Asriel kept looking over at Chara from the corner of his eye. The thought of Chara being here, at their table, sitting next to him, was just too much for him to pretend this was just any other meal. He just couldn’t stay still!

But Chara hadn’t taken a bite. They were staring down at their sandwich, their head at a slight angle, as if they were expecting his mom’s food to be poisonous. Which was weird. They’d eaten her food before, after all.

He didn’t know why he did it or why he thought it would help - some part of him thought that was just what he’d have wanted if it was him that needed to feel better - but Asriel reached out under the table to take their hand in his paw. But then he remembered the Chara Rule and paused.

“Chara,” he whispered. Their head snapped towards him, eyes wide, and Asriel swallowed, feeling strangely nervous. He wanted to just ask them, but it felt a little weird to say “Can I hold your hand?”

So, very gently and very, very slowly, so that they could bat it away if they wanted to, he reached out his paw for their hand. Chara seemed to realize what he was doing, and their eyes widened even further. The red on their cheeks deepened.

“Is it OK?” he whispered at them. Their eyes glanced away, although their smile remained perfectly still. Asriel was sure they would say “no”... which would have been totally fine, of course... but, instead, just barely, they nodded.

Trying not to act too excited about the whole thing, Asriel nodded back and took their hand. He felt their skin, soft and warm, cross against his fur. Beneath it, he could feel the steady, quiet _thump, thump_ of... what was it called? Oh, right. Their heartbeat.

Chara continued not looking his direction, so Asriel gave their hand the tiniest of squeezes. It was enough – Chara turned their head towards him, their eyes meeting his.

Asriel gave them a small smile, one he hoped made them feel a little better, and they huffed and rolled their eyes. But Asriel didn’t really mind. As aloof as they were acting, they still hadn’t let go of his hand.

He watched as they lifted the sandwich to their mouth with their free hand and took a bite. Asriel grinned at them, and Asgore stopped telling his story to look over and smile gently. Toriel followed his gaze, looking at them with a smile that looked as if she’d just been given a new pair of socks.

Chara swallowed. Asriel felt their hand squeeze his paw, so tightly it almost hurt.

“So how is it?” he whispered. As he’d hoped, Chara looked back towards him. Their usual wide-eyed smile was tight on their face, but they glanced down under the table to see their hand in his paw. They let out the breath they were holding. Their expression became a little softer, their smile becoming just a little less forced.

Asriel didn’t know how long they went on like that, staring at each other, holding hands, before he noticed how his cheeks were getting warm. Sure Chara could somehow tell, he quickly turned back towards his sandwich and took a bite.

The grip on his paw softened.

* * *

While Asriel colored, Chara held his paw. They watched him, hovering over his shoulder.

“You should use that color,” Chara said, pointing one out. At one point, Chara got frustrated, grabbed a crayon themselves, and started coloring for them. The two of them had a big fight over it, until Toriel grabbed them both by the collars and told them politely that that wouldn’t do.

When Asriel read a book, seated on his bed, Chara held his paw. Asriel read the book to him out loud.

“Susurrus,” Chara said, when he struggled with a word. “The word is sussurus. It means a whispering sound.”

Asriel felt a little embarrassed, but he thanked them anyway.

While Toriel cooked and Asriel helped, Chara held his paw.

“Would you like to help, my child?” Toriel said, smiling down at them, but Chara wouldn’t even look her direction. They just squeezed Asriel’s paw as tightly as they could.

When it was time for bed, Chara held his paw.

Until, of course, Chara had to change into their pajamas, one of the extra pairs they shared with Asriel. Asriel had to leave the room then. But, the moment he returned, Chara went right back for his paw again.

And, when they slept, Chara held his paw. They held it even as Asriel climbed into bed and laid down to sleep.

It was strange, not to go through his normal routine of offering them a paw – maybe Chara liked them sharing a bed that much now? Or maybe they had just got sick of pretending that they hadn’t been doing that for months.

But Asriel didn’t really mind that Chara liked handholding. There was almost a little, secret thrill about Chara holding his paw, some mysterious, mischievous sense that he was getting away with something. It sent a jolt of happiness through him whenever Chara touched his paw again.

Still, he hadn’t been able to keep himself from teasing them now and then, his voice light every time:

“You really like holding hands, huh, Chara?”

“Are you gonna do that all day, Chara?”

“You’re so weird, Chara.”

Once, when he had said something, Chara had tilted their head at him, their grip loosening, and said: “Does it bother you?”

Asriel had very quickly said that no, it didn’t bother him at all! It was just a joke! But he had been pretty careful not to tease them too much after that.

He felt Chara rub their fingers over his paw and he shivered, jolted awake from his thoughts, and looked over at them. They were staring at his paw closely, frowning. Even though Asriel was in his pajamas, it somehow made him feel kind of naked.

“Chara?” he asked. “What are you...?”

Chara didn’t reply. They only turned his paw this way and that. They slid a finger through the fur on the back of his paw, feeling the bare skin beneath it. Asriel started to feel a warmth rise to his cheeks.

He could have snatched his paw away, but he didn’t.

“This is magic?” they said, looking up from his paw to stare at him.

“Huh?”

“Your bodies... they consist of magic, don't they? That’s why your father could make that chair appear.”

Asriel tilted his head, frowning.

“I guess? I thought humans could do magic too?”

Chara shook their head.

“But that can’t be true,” Asriel said, a little smugly, “because humans are the ones who trapped us all down here by creating a magical barrier, and because seven of them cast the spell, that’s why it can only be destroyed with power equivalent to seven human souls.”

Asriel paused. He’d sounded a little _too_ smug – he rarely got the chance to show off his history knowledge.

He scratched the back of his head, grinning at them. “...Um, I think that’s right, anyway.”

Chara’s gigantic red eyes blinked. They released his paw, frowning.

“Humans trapped you down here?”

“Yeah, with magic!” Asriel nodded, before a realization came over him. “Wait... you mean you don’t know? About the barrier?”

“For how long?”

“Huh? How long is the spell? I think it’s forever - it’s been a really, really long time.” Asriel’s voice was casual about it, even to himself – he’d heard the story so many times, he really didn’t think much about it anymore. “You’re the only human to have ever fallen down here, so there’s... there's no way we could ever leave.”

Chara’s frown deepened, so Asriel took their hand back in his paw and squeezed it. Chara squeezed it back, but they didn’t look any happier, and Asriel was at a loss as to what else to do.

“...I see.”

* * *

It was Asriel’s tenth birthday. There was a butterscotch-cinnamon pie prepared, with candles in it, and there were presents he hadn’t opened yet, but there was one thing missing. One thing the day wouldn’t feel complete without.

Chara.

He hadn’t heard from them in days, ever since he’d mentioned his birthday was coming up. They’d stayed in bed, which wasn’t unusual at all for them, even for days at a time.

But, when it came time to blow out the candles and share a wish, there was just no way he couldn’t include them! Not just because he wanted them there, but because it was an ancient monster tradition that if you shared a wish with your best friend, it’d come true.

And, after all, his wish _was_ for Chara’s happiness.

But when he knocked on the door, there was no answer.

“Chara!” he shouted at the door. “Chara, you’re gonna miss the presents! And the candles are gonna melt!”

Still no reply. He frowned.

“I’m coming in!” he shouted again, before pushing open the door.

Chara was in their bed, like he thought. Instead of being under the blankets, they were seated on the edge of the bed, their feet hanging over the side. They were staring down at the floor – Asriel couldn’t see their face at all.

He swallowed. It took a moment before he asked, “Are you coming?”

“No,” said Chara’s flat, high-pitched voice. Asriel's ears drooped.

“Aww, why not?” he insisted. “It’ll be fun!”

“I said ‘no.’” Chara repeated. They looked up at him and Asriel flinched – their usual smile was on their face, their bright red eyes opened wide, but their expression was as forced as Asriel had ever seen it. “Leave me alone.”

Asriel shoved back his fear, a sense of determination filling him. He had to do something! He knew it! If Chara was upset, he couldn’t just stand there. He was their friend! Their best friend! Wasn’t this what friends were for?

He stepped closer to them.

The moment he did, Chara jumped off the bed. They continued smiling at him, but they took a step forward, then another, towards Asriel. Their body was slightly hunched over, their walk unnaturally swaying back and forth, but their eyes never moved from Asriel. Asriel gulped.

“I. Said,” Chara hissed. With every word, they moved closer. “Leave. Me. Alone. Asriel.”

Asriel had been stepping back without even realizing it. Now he was pinned back against the wall, Chara just inches from him. He couldn’t move. Asriel stared up at Chara, his legs wobbling.

Unsure what else to do, Asriel reached out his paw from where it was pinned against the wall, and gently touched Chara’s hand.

Chara’s hand snapped out and grabbed Asriel by the wrist. Asriel let out a half-choked yelp before Chara wrenched his hand away, squeezing it painfully, and pulled it behind Asriel’s back.

“Chara...” Asriel said desperately, tears filling his eyes. He didn’t understand what was going on at all. He was just trying to help them! “You’re hurting me...”

Chara’s huge red eyes blinked. Suddenly, they released Asriel’s wrist and stepped backwards.

Asriel started to sob, tears rolling down his cheeks. Now that his wrist was free, he rubbed it with his other paw – he could still feel the pain from where Chara had squeezed it. His shoulder hurt.

“I’m... I’m sorry,” he said, sniffling and lifting up a paw to rub at his eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ll leave... I’ll leave you alone.”

And he stumbled out of the room, leaving Chara standing there.

As he walked down the hallway, still sobbing, he swore he heard something else, just barely.

It was someone else crying.

* * *

 

Asriel wasn't sleeping. He was staring at the wall. His wrist still hurt, but he wasn't angry, not really - he didn't understand the emotion he was feeling at all. His stomach was churning, but the rest of him felt dull and empty, like he didn't want to get out of bed ever again. It was the same way he'd felt the whole day, even as he'd ate his pie and opened his presents.

"Asriel," said a voice.

Asriel didn't move, at first - it seemed like too much effort. It took a few seconds for his mind to realize that there were only two people in the room, only one person that familiar voice could be.

He shot up, turning around. There were Chara's eyes, seemingly glowing in the dark, and there was Chara's smile.

"I'm sorry," they said, slowly, "about earlier."

Asriel felt a flash of something deep inside him, something he didn’t normally feel – it took him a moment to realize it was anger. That’s it? They had hurt him really bad, and all they had to say was _sorry?_

“Chara,” he said, as softly as he could muster. “You really scared me. You hurt me.”

Chara flinched, looking away from him. He could see their red eyes starting to water, and he watched as they quickly turned their face away to hide it.

“I... I know,” they said, under their breath. “I know... I know I don’t deserve forgiveness.”

Asriel felt the anger in him start to fade away as Chara spoke. He felt tears in the corner of his eyes too, but he didn’t try to stop them.

He wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t sure if he _should_ forgive them. He didn’t want to stay mad at Chara, not at all, but...

“It’s OK,” he said, even though it really wasn’t.

And, out of nowhere, Chara wrapped their arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” they said, squeezing Asriel tightly. Awkwardly, more than a little confused, Asriel reached up and patted them on the back. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“It’s OK,” Asriel repeated. “It’s OK!”

Chara let out a deep, rattling sigh and broke away from the hug. Asriel could see the tears on their cheeks, even as Chara reached up and tried to rub them away.

He could also see their blush. It was very, very dark.

“I... I also... I wished to give you a present. I wanted to make up for... what I did.”

“Huh?” said Asriel, tilting his head. “Really?”

“Yes. If that’s alright with you.”

“I mean, yeah, of course, Chara, but...” Asriel started to say, but before he could finish the thought, Chara's hands shot out of the darkness and grabbed Asriel by the cheeks. Asriel felt a jolt of fear run through him as Chara leaned forward and...

Kissed him on the forehead.

"Happy birthday."

Just as quickly, they disappeared, their eyes and their smile vanishing into the darkness. Asriel heard a series of footsteps retreating from him, then a creak of wood, and then he could see something huddled under Chara's blankets.

Asriel was completely confused. That was, and this was saying something, maybe the weirdest thing Chara had ever done. What kind of present was _that_?

But in spite of himself, Asriel reached up to his forehead and blushed.

* * *

“Please do not cheat, dearest one.”

Asriel stopped standing on his tiptoes. But he didn't stop bouncing on his feet – he just couldn’t help himself!

“Also, please, do not bounce. It will be hard to draw this line if you are bouncing.”

He took a deep breath, puffing up his cheeks, and did his best not to move. His mother held out the black marker and carefully, after pressing down the tuft of Asriel’s fur on the tip of his head, drew a line on the wall. He still felt the marker pass through his fur.

“There we are,” she said happily, and Asriel practically skipped away, turning on his heel to look. His eyes followed up the old, somewhat faded marker line, the little indents marking each passing year – some crossed out, from when he’d been caught cheating a little too late.

And there was “Asriel, 10,” marked just a few inches above the four foot line.

“Ha ha, four feet, three inches!” he laughed, turning towards Chara and pointing. “There’s no way you’re gonna beat that!”

“It is not a race,” his mother said, squinting at him, but she gently waved her hands towards Chara. “But, yes, it is your turn, my child.”

Chara, their hands in their pockets, walked over to the markings next to the doorframe and stood next to them. Toriel told them to take another step back, although Asriel had a feeling from the slight confusion on their face that they didn’t know why or what they were even here for.

They flinched when Toriel touched their hair, and they flinched again when she moved the marker near them, watching it warily.

“Please, young one, try not to flinch. It will make it hard for me to draw this line.”

Chara nodded, their blush deepening, and Asriel watched as they squeezed their eyes shut. Toriel put her paw on their head, sticking her tongue out as she replaced it with the marker and drew a line from it towards the makeshift ruler.

“Very good, my child,” she said, stepping away, and Chara unsqueezed their eyes and stepped away. Asriel rushed over, feeling more than a little impatient (it’d taken so long!), but his mother held out a paw and stopped him midway.

“Wait,” she said, looking at Chara while Asriel huffed and crossed his arms. “I seem to have forgotten something... I do not believe you ever told us how old you were, dear one.”

At first, they said nothing. Then they turned their head towards the floor.

“I don’t know,” they said.

Asriel raised his eyebrows at them. He looked towards his mother – she looked just as confused.

“Well, what year were you born, Chara?” he tried.

Chara crossed their arms, their smile fading just a little. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, that is no issue,” she said, walking over towards the line. Asriel followed behind, looking below his line to see where she’d placed it – and then looking up to see a line higher than all the rest, just under the five foot line. Next to it, his mother had written “Chara,” and next to that, she wrote “, ???”

“What?!” Asriel shouted, clenching his fists. “That’s not fair! I got taller!"  
  
“Do not be rude, Asriel,” she said, in a I-am-not-going-to-argue-about-this tone. “I am quite sure I have measured their height accurately.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Asriel replied, sighing. But he looked towards Chara anyway. “Chara, can you stand next to me? I just want to check.”

Chara shrugged and walked over next to him. They were much bigger than he was - it was obvious, since Asriel’s eyes barely went up to Chara’s chest. When had they gotten so _tall?_

Toriel walked up and compared their heights anyway, putting her paw above Chara’s head and moving it back and forth over Asriel’s.

“Aww, Mom,” Asriel mumbled. “You don’t have to do that...”

“I thought it would make you happy,” she said, smiling, then she turned to Chara. Chara looked down at him with a tiny hint of smugness. “Ah, my child, I remember when you first came here and the two of you were the same height... one almost would have thought you were twins. Goodness, that feels so long ago already...”

She titled her head, her smile growing even brighter. “I am so happy to have seen you grown.”

“Thank you, Miss... Mom,” said Chara, before pausing, their blush growing deeper. “Miss... Mom... Lady.”

Asriel was baffled. Toriel only laughed.

“Miss Mom Lady!” she chuckled. “I like that a lot, my child.”

* * *

When Chara climbed into bed that night, Asriel couldn’t keep still. He was bouncing up and down, making the mattress shake. He couldn’t help it – he was in such a good mood!

Sure, he was just a little mad that Chara was still taller than he was. But he could forgive them for it this time.

When Chara saw him bouncing, they squinted at him.

“Knock that off.”

Asriel instantly stopped. “Sorry.”

“Why are you so... happy?”

“You called my mom ‘Mom’!” he said, grinning. “That must mean you like her, right? And you want my mom and dad to be _your_ mmmmmph”

Chara had stuck a finger against Asriel’s snout, in a gesture even Asriel recognized as “shut up.” Their eyes were narrowed, but more than that, their whole body was shaking, like something was trying to burst out of them. Their finger shook against his mouth.

“Stop,” they said.

Asriel nodded rapidly. Chara backed away, moving their finger away from his mouth.

“But Chaaaaaaara!” Asriel whisper-whined, the moment he could talk again. “ _You’re_ the one who said it!”

The moment he said that, Chara made a snarling sound, their expression darkening. Asriel regretted having said anything, but it was too late – without warning, they reached forward and grabbed him by the pajama collar.

“I. Don’t. Want. A. _Mother!”_ they said, shaking him with every word. “Or... or a father! Or a sister or a brother... or... or _anything!_ And I will _never_ want it! _”_

Asriel flinched away from them. Embarrassingly, he could feel his eyes starting to water.

He’d said before that he didn’t see Chara as a sibling, and that was still true, so he shouldn’t have been offended, but... did this mean Chara... didn’t want to be a part of his family _at all?_ Not even as his friend?

And he’d thought that, maybe, one day, they’d warm up to the idea of his parents being their parents _for real._ It’d mean they could have a Mom and Dad again! A Mom and Dad that loved them!

“Don’t cry,” they said. It wasn’t a request.

Asriel sniffled.

“But...” he said, rubbing at his eyes. “Why... why not... don’t you...?”

Chara glared at him.

“Do you _really_ want to know?” they said, a smile crossing their face. It wasn’t a real smile – it made Asriel gulp.

Asriel nodded anyway.

“Because mothers are _bad people,”_ they hissed, crawling closer to him. _“_ Mothers, fathers, brothers... they don’t love you. They don’t care about you. They just _hurt you.”_

Without warning, Chara crawled closer, so that their bright red eyes were inches from Asriel’s own. Asriel flinched.

“Do you _get it now?”_

Asriel nodded quickly. He could feel himself starting to cry again.

“Good,” they said, backing away. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

They laid back down on the bed, facing away from Asriel. Asriel stared at their back – tears started to roll down his cheeks.

He reached a paw up to cover his mouth. He felt sick.

“I’m... I’m sorry. I... shouldn’t have...”

“You’re right,” Chara’s voice said. “You shouldn’t have.”

* * *

 "And so, after a long struggle, the war at last came to an end. The seven human magicians had been victorious, and their barrier was nothing less than unbreakable. Monsters were... were..."

Asriel yawned. He didn't mind reading this book to Chara, who was lying with their head in his lap, but he'd read this book a dozen times. Monster history got kind of boring, when you knew so much about the war and the barrier just from being a prince.

"...Can we read this later?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Take me to the barrier."

Asriel blinked, not sure he'd heard them right. Chara just stared at the open book in front of them, not moving.

"Huh?"

"Take me to the barrier," Chara repeated. "I want to see it for myself."

Asriel thought about asking why. It wasn't like they were going to be able to break it, or walk through it, or anything like that. But asking didn't seem like it'd do a whole lot. Chara was in a... weird mood, which wasn't strange for Chara, but they got in an even weirder one every time he mentioned the monsters being trapped underground.

And, besides, Chara had never left the castle before. The long path to the barrier usually had monsters in it, and those monsters had never seen Chara, or any other human. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle the monster's reactions to them... or even Chara's reactions to the monsters.

Asriel shrugged. He didn't want to make any promises, but...

"Sure," he said. "I'll ask my dad about it, OK?"

"OK."

* * *

"Hey, Dad?" Asriel said. Chara stood behind him, gripping his paw even tighter than he was gripping their hand. Chara's face was a careful, determined line, just like it had been ever since they had mentioned wanting to go to the barrier.

His dad looked up from the book he was reading, setting down a cup of tea. His mother looked over from where she was knitting in front of the magical fire.

"Yes, Asriel?" he said.

"Chara wants to..." He looked behind himself at Chara, to make sure this was _really_ what they wanted, and Chara nodded. "To go to the barrier."

Asgore blinked, tilting his head slightly.

"May I ask why?"

"I dunno," said Asriel. He turned to Chara, who rolled their eyes.

"I..." Chara started to say. Their voice was quiet, hesitant. "I want to know about the history of monsters. What humans did to... them. I want to see it for myself."

Asgore made a _hmm_ sound. He reached over, grabbed his cup of tea, and lifted it to his muzzle.

"That seems reasonable," he said. "I see no reason why not."

Chara breathed a sigh of relief. So did Asriel.

"...But I have a condition," Asgore continued, taking a sip of his tea.

"What?" said Asriel and Chara at nearly the same time.

"If you leave the castle, you will pass by many monsters. Some have seen a human before - many have not. That means there will be rumors of a human in the Underground, traveling alongside the King and Prince, and rumors in the Underground spread quickly."

Asriel knew all this already, but he didn't understand what his dad was getting at. Couldn't they just, like, explain any rumors later?

"That is why I wish to have a ceremony, to introduce you to monsterkind in an... official capacity."

From the other side of the room, another voice spoke. Asriel turned to look - it was, of course, his mother.

"Gorey... we have discussed this."

Asgore coughed. "A-ah, yes. Of course. My wife believes... that it is not the opportune time for such a ceremony."

Asriel didn't want to speak up, but he had to agree. Chara always seemed on edge, even around his family, even around Asriel himself. And they'd been living together for months! He couldn't imagine a big, pompous ceremony, filled with total strangers, would be at all easy for them.

"I assure you, the ceremony will be small, and your role in it short. You will only need to appear. There will be no speeches or anything of that sort. Think of it as... ripping a band-aid off. It will only hurt for a moment."

To Asriel's surprise, and probably everyone else in the room's, Chara suddenly let go of his paw. They marched forward, stiffly extending a hand out towards Asgore.

"I'll do it," they said firmly.

Asriel walked up alongside them, concerned.

"Are you sure?"

Chara nodded.

"I must admit, I still disagree..." said Toriel. To Asriel, she sounded more worried than she normally did. "But it is your choice, my child. If you have decided to participate, I will do my best to make it comfortable for you."

Asgore only chuckled, staring at Chara's hand, so small compared to his own. He extended one of his paws out and gently took Chara's hand in it, giving it a small shake.

"Then we have an agreement. After the ceremony, I will take you to the barrier."

"It is agreed," said Chara.

* * *

“I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” Chara muttered, shaking their head violently.

Asriel could barely hear them over the sound of monsters just outside their room. There were so many voices, in so many different volumes, that it made his head hurt. It wasn’t the first time monsters had crowded into the house - his family had used to be like most monsters, who didn’t even close their front doors, much less lock them. His family had done the same thing... until Chara had come along.

So having strangers wasn’t weird to Asriel. He’d just never felt like there’d been _so many_.

Asgore and Toriel had done their best to keep it quiet, but like his father had said, rumors in the Underground spread quickly. Once people had heard of some kind of announcement, the entire Underground had descended on New Home. Even though they'd promised a small ceremony, that hadn't lasted long.

He was already hugging Chara, his chest pressed to the purple, Delta Rune-emblazoned robes his mother had sewn for them. It didn’t seem to be helping. Chara just continued to shake, curled into a tiny ball on their bed.

“You can do it, Chara!” he tried. Chara only laughed, so he hugged them even tighter. “I know you can! We practiced!”

“I can’t,” Chara repeated, their voice quaking. “Call it off.”

Asriel looked towards the door. He knew his mother was waiting nearby for them to get ready, so it'd be easy for him to just put a stop to this whole thing. All he'd have to do is tell her “not today,” and that'd be that.

But he imagined not just her disappointment, or his father's disappointment, but the disappointment of every monster waiting outside. He’d be letting them all down, failing his duties as a prince. Wasn’t he supposed to keep them full of hope? Wasn’t he supposed to put on a brave face, even if it was hard?

"Don't be scared, Chara," he tried. Chara only shook their head. "I'm gonna protect you, no matter what!"

He pointed a claw at himself.

"I'm your royal guard! Remember?"

He was so sure that would work, but Chara only stared at him, frowning. Asriel tried not to panic; what was he going to do? Was he just going to have to sit there the whole day?

No, he couldn't think like that. He had to be strong. For his parents, for the monsters, and most of all, for Chara.

Asriel straightened up, his confidence returning. "Come on,” he said, offering Chara a paw. “We’ll do it together!”

For a moment, Chara just kept staring. Then their frown softened, just a little bit.

"Alright," Chara said, accepting his paw. "Together."

Slowly, Asriel climbed off the bed. Still holding Chara’s hand in his paw, he started to walk towards the door, and they slowly followed behind him.

He opened the door, his cape billowing behind him, but he didn’t see his mother. He could only hear her voice, struggling to be heard over the noise, trying to direct monsters out of the house. From the hallway, monsters stared back at him, with more eyes than he could count. There were Froggits and Vulkins and Woshuas and more - every kind of monster he could think of.

He took a deep breath. He’d practiced for ceremonies just like this a whole lot. Without looking at any of them, he walked forward at a slow, steady pace. Chara was so close behind him that they’d trip over him if he stopped. He squeezed their hand as tightly as he could, hoping with all his strength he was distracting them from the monsters all around them.

He couldn’t turn around and see if it was working. He had to look straight ahead, like a prince was supposed to walk – that’s what he’d practiced so many times. If he was being honest with himself, crowds made him nervous too... but it wasn’t as bad if he focused on walking.

He made his way down the hallway, towards the entrance. Monsters tried to part the way as the two of them passed. Some were so tall that they reached to the ceiling, others so small he would’ve smushed them if he wasn’t careful.

Over the monster’s heads, near the front door, he could see his mother. She was waving her hands from right to left, calmly directing monsters out of the house, but there were still dozens of them surrounding her. It was no wonder that even she couldn’t keep a handle on them all.

Asriel focused on her and walked straight towards her, squeezing Chara’s hand as tightly as he could. The last thing he wanted was to fall over and lose his grip. There was no way that’d end well.

He was jarred from this thoughts when he ran into something small and heavy and he felt the ground nearly slip out from under him. He stumbled, trying to right himself, and looked down to see… a Woshua, squatting directly in the middle of the hallway.

The Woshua squinted, not at Asriel, but at Chara. It made a face.

“u dirty,” it said. The bird in its tub twee’d in agreement.

“Ahem,” said a familiar voice.

Asriel looked up past the Woshua at his mother, who was giving the Woshua a glare, her nose raised high. She was in her finest armor, the regalia of a queen, which was... kind of weird, to Asriel. He was so used to seeing her in her robes he almost forgot she had other clothes.

The Woshua took one look at her expression and clanked off. It didn’t look happy about it.

When the Woshua left, Toriel’s glare disappeared with it, replaced by a soft, warm smile. It was almost enough to calm whatever worries Asriel might have been feeling. He only hoped it was doing the same for Chara.

Toriel quickly closed the distance between them, her arms crossed in front of her stomach. Monsters quickly moved out of her way, and out of the front door, as she passed.

"Take my hand, dearest one," she said, offering her paw to Asriel. Her grip was familiar to Asriel - firm, but gentle. She slowly led the two of them down the rest of the hallway, step-by-step and hand-in-hand. She looked behind herself as she walked, smiling down at them, as if she was ready to catch them if they happened to fall.

Even though most of the inside of the house had been cleared of monsters, the noise outside the house became louder and louder as they approached the front door. But, strangely, with his mother holding his hand, Asriel didn't really care about all the noise anymore. It was as if her presence silenced everything else.

“I tried to keep the house clear of strangers, but it is clear I did not succeed. I apologize, my child. But you will be safe from the monsters outside now. I will be here to protect you.”

Asriel felt Chara squeeze his paw tightly. He squeezed it back.

"As will Asriel, of course," she added.

It wasn't long before they reached the front door.

"Are you ready, children?"

Asriel nodded. Chara didn't. They continued to frown, looking in every direction but at her.

Toriel saw their expression, but her smile barely faded. She only crouched down in front of them. Asriel watched as she gently reached forward and caressed their cheek with the edge of her other paw. They flinched when she touched them.

"It is not too late, my child," she said. "I understand your feelings about this... ceremony. If you wish, you can stay in your room, and we can make the announcement in private. Will that be alright?"

Asriel squeezed their hand again. "Don't worry, Chara. I won't mind."

Chara crossed their free arm over their chest and rubbed their side. There was a short pause before they spoke again. “I…”

They stared right at Asriel. Asriel gulped.

“I… I want to do this.”

Asriel couldn't really believe them, if he was being honest. Just a moment ago, they'd wanted to call the whole thing off... now they were acting like it was fine? He hoped they weren't just saying that to make her happy.

"Are you sure?” he said. “It's OK if you're not!"

"I'm sure," they said. They sounded annoyed, like they weren't going to argue about it any more.

"Very well," said Toriel, standing up. She turned towards the front doors and, slowly enough he was sure it was to give Chara time to change their mind, started to walk through them.

Asriel was expecting, as they walked outside, to be met by a roar of sound. Instead, instantly, everything become completely silent. A thousand monsters of a thousand shapes and a thousand sizes, stuffed into the space outside the house, stared at the three of them with thousands of eyes.

Even he gulped. He looked towards Chara, who had closed their eyes and was breathing heavily, but he had no time to reassure them. His mother had already started to march forward, towards his father, who was standing in the center of the crowd in his finest armor. He had no choice but to follow behind her, walking as prince-ly as he could, Chara in tow.

As the monsters stared at Chara, a murmur of voices rolled through the crowd.

“Is it OK?”

“Does it need help?”

“Is it hurt?”

He could feel Chara's hand shaking in his paw. He gave it a tiny squeeze, trying to remind them that he was there, that they were safe, but it didn't seem to do anything. Maybe this _had_ been a bad idea.

His father seemed to notice something was wrong. He looked out towards the murmuring monsters and waved his hands downwards, for silence.

“Everyone, please, stay calm. We do not wish the human to panic, do we?”

His voice was slightly raised, but he spoke in a gentle, soothing tone. The monsters’ mumbling became quieter. Chara’s breathing slowed.

“Thank you,” said Asgore. He looked down towards the two of them and spoke, his voice soft and quiet. “You are safe here, children. Do not be afraid.”

"I need to take my place, children," said Toriel, letting go of Asriel's hand. "But he is right. Do not fear."

Asriel nodded, even though he was hesitant to be left alone, surrounded by all the unknown monsters staring at him. He had to remind himself that he wasn't alone. It wasn't just that his parents were there. It was that he had to be brave, to keep Chara safe like he'd promised. To reassure them it was alright.

Toriel moved to take her place next to Asgore. Asriel watched them smile at each other warmly, like they always did when they were next to each other. It made him feel a bit better, knowing his parents loved each other so deeply.

"Now, dearest one," Toriel said, motioning outward with both hands. "Please go and stand next to Chara."

Asriel turned towards Chara. He hadn’t thought about this part.

“Chara,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You’re gonna have to let go of my hand.”

He felt Chara squeeze his hand, but then they let go and nodded, all without opening their eyes. Slowly, his eyes locked on Chara every second, Asriel moved over to stand next to them. He could see them still shivering, as if they were standing in a blizzard.

A dog monster, one of the Snowdin Canine Unit, walked from behind Toriel and stood next to her. She was carrying a violet pillow with a white sheet over it. With a flourish, Toriel removed the sheet and revealed two tiaras – one in silver, one in gold, both covered in precious jewels.

She took the gold tiara and walked over to Asriel, who bowed. He was used to practicing this ceremony. He’d done something similar before, a long time ago, when he’d chosen his gender and was first crowned as prince.

“Very good, dearest one,” she said, as she placed the tiara on his head. It was hard for him not to smile.

She took the silver tiara and walked over to Chara. Chara didn’t bow, like they’d practiced. They just continued to shake.

"As I said, my child, there is no reason to fear,” she said calmly. “I am still here. Asriel is still here. You are safe with us.”

It seemed to work. Chara took a deep, rattling breath, and they stopped shaking as much. Toriel smiled as she placed the silver tiara on their head. A murmur rolled through the crowd, but his father looked towards them and they fell silent again.

“Now, children,” said Asgore. He got down on one knee and extended two massive hands, able to carry dozens of monsters each. “Climb onto my hands.”

With one last look at Chara, Asriel walked over to his father’s left hand. He watched as Chara climbed onto his father’s right, holding onto one of his fingers.

With unsurprising gentleness, Asgore lifted the two of them next to his shoulders. Asriel climbed on and watched as Chara, their legs wobbling unsteadily, climbed onto Asgore’s other shoulder and sat down.

Asgore looked out towards the crowd. Slowly, he extended his hands outwards, towards the monsters.

“Now, you all, of course, know my son, Asriel Dreemurr,” he said. The crowd murmured their agreement as Asriel waved at them, smiling. “I don’t believe he needs any introduction.”

He glanced towards Chara.

“But this child... they are new to you. Surely, you wonder, what is this strange monster? Who are they? Why are they here?”

Again, the crowd murmured.

“They are a human,” he said. The crowd gasped. “And, yet, they do not seek to harm us. They are, in fact, my son Asriel’s close friend. And so... they are a friend to all of us! And that is what makes them the proof that monsters and humans can live in peace!”

The crowd went dead quiet.

“They are our hopes and dreams!”

The crowd roared, an explosion of sound. A thousand arms, a thousand bodies, moved towards Chara, reaching towards them in unison. From the crowd, a series of magic bolts fired into the air, forming shapes and words – hearts in a rainbow of colors, greetings from Hotland and Snowdin and the Core, even a “Hi Mom!”

Asriel waved out at the crowd. They roared his name – Asriel, Asriel, Asriel!

He looked towards Chara. Their mouth was open and they had their hand raised to their chest. They looked out towards the crowd of monsters, awe written all over their face.

Slowly, they raised their hand.

The instant they did, the crowd roared again – human, human, human!

It was one of the greatest days of Asriel’s life.

He hoped it was Chara’s too.

* * *

When Asgore and Chara went to the barrier that night, Asriel joined them. It wasn't even a choice, really - he couldn't imagine doing anything else.

But it was only the three of them. His mom had stayed behind, saying that someone had to keep an eye on the house. Besides, she'd added as she wrapped scarves around their necks, the barrier was in the past. She didn't see what all the fuss was about.

There were still monsters in New Home because of the ceremony, so they passed a few along the way to the barrier. They stared curiously as the three of them walked by, Asriel's paw in Chara's hand. Asriel and his father had greeted them as usual, but Chara had been silent.

It wasn’t a long journey from their home to the barrier, even though it always felt like one, passing through the winding hallways of the castle into depths monsters usually didn’t travel. It was a journey they still made at night, even though Asriel had read that it had been hundreds of years since a human had ever been seen near the barrier. He guessed his dad just had trouble breaking old habits.

Eventually, the three of them arrived at a huge, huge arch, far larger than even his dad, far larger than it seemed any monster could ever be. It only seemed to lead into complete darkness. From inside it, there was a sound like a low hum, which Asriel could barely hear.

Asriel’s father stepped through. Asriel swallowed, even though he knew what was in there, and gripped Chara’s hand as tightly as he could. Hand in hand, they walked in.

The barrier was everywhere. The floor, the walls, and the ceiling all shone with a perfect rectangle of white light, which seemed to stretch on forever and ever. The light crossed from one side of the room to the other, becoming brighter, then dimmer as it passed. Asriel could see shining white objects through the end of it, as if it were glass. The smaller shining objects, he knew, were stars, and the giant blurred circle was the moon.

“This is the barrier,” his father’s voice boomed as he stared down at it. It was a well-practiced speech, and Asriel remembered hearing it word for word before, when he had been just old enough that he would remember it. “This is what keeps us all trapped underground.”

Asriel knew what came next as well. His father walked towards the barrier and spread his arms out, his cape fluttering behind him. White energy formed around his paws, like smoke, and flames formed from the tips of his claws. He swung his arms towards each other, dozens of fireballs searing the air as they burst from out in front of him and launched themselves towards the barrier.

The flames crashed into thin air in a series of explosions, releasing smoke in every direction. The smoke spread along the air as if there was a solid wall there, before vanishing.

“No monster, no matter how strong they might be, can shatter the barrier,” his father continued. “There is no known magic in the underground that can destroy it.”

Asriel could feel the pulse in Chara’s hand get quicker and quicker. He adjusted his scarf, suddenly feeling cold.

“But there is... one possibility,” his father said, turning his head towards Chara.

Asriel blinked. He didn’t know this part – when his father had told this to him, he had spoken about how the barrier didn’t mean that they should lose hope. He had said it was their sworn duty as royalty to stay strong for the sake of all monsters, to put joy in their souls no matter how dire their situation. And when he’d seen him tell it to other young monsters, as he often did, he’d just said the same things about the need to not lose hope to them.

His father turned around the rest of the way and walked towards him. When he was close enough, he crouched down on one knee, smiling down at Chara.

“Long ago, human child, my kind and your kind fought an endless, pointless war. They were afraid of us – afraid of our power – even though, to tell the truth, humans like yourself far surpass us all in strength.”

“And that is the reason that humans did this?” said Chara’s voice from behind Asriel, very quietly.

“That is correct, human,” Asgore replied. “Out of fear, the humans gathered their most powerful magicians, and they sealed us here for all eternity.”

Asriel felt Chara’s grip on his hand tighten to the point where it hurt, and he gulped. He wanted to say something, but he felt like he couldn’t find the words. He was afraid that, even if he did find them, he would be interrupting something really important.

“But we do not need to fear humans now, and humans do not need to fear us,” his father went on, his smile widening. “You two are the proof.”

“We are?” Asriel said, without thinking. His father only spread his arms out in front of himself, filled with an energy Asriel had never seen from him before.

“Absolutely!” his father said. “If we can prove to the humans that our races can live in peace... if other humans were to fall down here and live alongside us without fighting us or fearing us, then... perhaps the barrier can be broken, and we can be free.”

Tears were forming in his father’s eyes.

“As I said, human, you and Asriel are the proof. You have shown me that, if two children of each of our species can become as close as the two of you, then everything I once believed was wrong – humans are not inherently cruel. Our mistrust and fear of them was as foolish as their fear of us.”

Chara laughed, more a bark than a real laugh, and Asriel turned towards them, confused. They were smiling, but rather than their usual carefully-set smile, their smile was large and wavy, barely a smile at all. They stared intently at the barrier with wide eyes - he could see the glowing white light reflected in them.

“Yes, it is funny, isn’t it?” his father said. “To believe we have fought your kind for so long, to have lived for so many centuries in fear, when the answer was so close to us all along.”

Asriel felt his gut twist. He didn’t really understand what was happening. He’d just wanted to keep Chara safe, to make them happy – he didn’t get what all this was about the two of them being some kind of proof that humanity was good, that they were some kind of way that the barrier could be broken. He wanted to break the barrier, of course, everyone did, but... none of what his father was saying made any sense.

He looked from his father, who had started to actually cry, back towards Chara again. Their hands were shaking, and their smile was even stranger and more lopsided than before.

“I can see the hope in your eyes, human,” Asgore said. “I am sure that you, too, desire this wish – for the barrier to be destroyed. For monsters and humans to live freely, in peace.”

Chara laughed again, and laughed, and laughed. They clutched their stomach.

Asgore scratched his head. “It is a happy event, I suppose.”

Asriel may not have understood what was happening, what was so funny, but he pulled them into a hug anyway. Chara only continued to laugh.

“Dad, we should go home,” he said softly. “Mom’s waiting for us.”

“Ah, yes, Asriel,” said his father. “you’re quite right. I hope that was enough for you to understand our history, human.”

When they finally arrived home, Asriel spent the rest of the night unable to sleep, feeling more uncomfortable than he thought he’d ever felt before.

Chara, for what felt like the first time in a long time, didn’t join him.

* * *

The next day, Chara stayed entirely in bed. Asriel was worried it was because they were upset, so he’d gone to check on them, and what he’d found when he’d moved the blankets off them was worse than anything he expected. Their face was even paler than usual, they were drenched in sweat, and there were rivers of snot running down from their nose. They were weakly holding Asriel’s stuffed boss monster to their chest, getting snot all over it.

Asriel ran straight for his mother, wailing, and it took him some effort (and a lot of tears) before he finally managed to spit out, “Mom, Mom, I think Chara is dying!”

She bolted for Asriel and Chara’s room as if it was on fire, Asriel following close behind. He stood behind her and wrung his paws together while she pulled the blankets away from them to see. He saw her visibly relax.

“It is merely a fever, dearest one,” she said, while Chara opened their eyes just enough to stare at her. “Stay near them - I will make some soup.”

Asriel didn’t feel much better, looking at them, the way they were squinting at him and his mother as if they weren’t sure who they were or what they were doing there. But his mom knew best, so while she left the room, he got a chair and sat by their side.

“Asriel,” Chara moaned. Their voice sounded horrible, scratchy and hoarse, but Asriel’s ears perked up to hear them say his name.

“Yeah, Chara?”

“I feel terrible.”

Asriel leaned over and took one of their hands in his paws.

“Mom said it’s just a fever,” he said. He tried his hardest to sound calm, to make them feel better about it, but he felt like he was the one who probably needed it more. “You’ll... you’ll be fine, Chara!”

“...What’s a fever?”

 _Oh dear_ , Asriel thought. They were even worse than he thought.

He stayed holding their hand until his mother returned with the soup. She smiled when she saw him holding Chara’s hand, and he felt a blush rise to his cheeks, so he stopped. She walked to Chara’s side and crouched down next to them.

“Would you assist me in sitting them up, Asriel?” she asked, and the two of them tried to lift Chara up to rest against their bedpost. Chara tried fruitlessly to bat his mom’s hands away while Asriel set a pillow underneath their head. She held out a spoon to their mouth, but Chara groaned and made a face, turning their head away whenever she brought it close.

“Can I try?” Asriel offered. His mother handed him the bowl and spoon, and when he tried the same thing, Chara made another face... but they didn’t turn their head away. When Asriel tipped the spoon against their lips, they drank his mom’s soup without complaint.

They started to cough and sputter, making Asriel afraid he’d killed them by making them choke on soup. But his mother reassured him it was fine, so he continued sitting near them, feeding them until the bowl was nearly empty. His mother watched over them, occasionally placing her paw against Chara’s forehead or wrist.

“I wonder if they will ever come to trust me,” she murmured as she stared down at them, and Asriel looked up at her, startled.

“Of... of course they will, Mom!” he said, tightly gripping the bowl and spoon in his hands. “It’ll just take time, like you always say. I’m sure of it!”

“I am sorry, dearest one,” she sighed. “I should not have spoken such words aloud.”

But, as she looked down at Chara, brushing their hair out of the way of their face, she kept speaking. “It is just... I have tried so hard, and so long, but I worry there is little I can do for this child. What they have gone through in their short life... I do not truly know. And I am not sure that I wish to.”

Asriel stared at her, blinking back the beginning of tears – he couldn’t remember ever seeing his mother like this, looking so... sad. Not knowing what to do about it hurt.

“Ah, it happened again, did it not? I am sorry once more, dearest one,” she said, smiling brightly. She reached down and poked Asriel in the nose, and in spite of himself, he let out a small giggle. “Please pay no mind to your old mother’s rambling.

"I have an idea,” she continued. She started to walk out of the room. “Asriel, please stay with the human... I will be back in only a moment.”

Asriel nodded, letting out a sniffle and wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Then he turned back to Chara, who was staring straight at him, attempting to smile – or at least, that’s what Asriel guessed they were doing. It wasn’t quite that creepy face they did sometimes, but if Asriel was being honest, it was still rather scary.

“Ree,” they said, waving their hands towards him. “Ree...”

It took a moment for Asriel to realize that was supposed to be a nickname, and he leaned forward.

“What is it, Chara?”

Chara flopped over, wrapped their arms around his neck, and pulled him just far enough forward that he toppled towards them, their nose colliding with his cheek.

“Stay with me, OK, Ree?” they said, nuzzling their nose in his fur. “Forever and ever and ever and ever and...”

“OK, OK, Chara, I will, I will!” he said, pulling away when he felt sweat and snot on his fur. Chara looked disappointed, but Asriel was sure they didn’t feel as disappointed as he felt gross.

Ugh. He’d have to take a bath later.

“Geez...”

“Oh my,” said Toriel’s voice behind them and Asriel jumped, feeling his cheeks grow warm – of all the times for her to have walked in! “I think they are becoming delirious.”

Asriel moved out of the way so that Toriel could sit on the bed next to Chara. They shot her a half-awake glare. Asriel wasn’t sure what they were mad about, but their face changed instantly when Toriel showed them what she had gone to get.

It was a bar of brand-name chocolate, the wrapper opened. She broke off a piece.

“We used to give these to you when you fell ill, dearest one,” she said to Asriel, without looking his direction. Chara started to drool, wiping it away with their sleeve. They sat up, leaning towards the chocolate. “Human illnesses are, I imagine, very different from monster illnesses... but this should make them happier, at least.”

Gently, she held the piece of chocolate out to them, and Chara snatched it from her hands without a second thought and scarfed it down. They chewed, and swallowed, and it was like a miracle – instantly, a light seemed to come into their eyes, and they looked far more peaceful.

Then they threw up and Asriel fainted.

* * *

Both Chara and Asriel spent the next week in their beds, although Asriel couldn’t understand why he’d gotten sick too – the magic in him, the usual symptom of monster illnesses, seemed fine, but he’d still ended up with all the same problems as Chara somehow. Monsters got sick when they were unhappy, so maybe it was because Chara was sick that he’d gotten sick too? Which didn’t really seem fair.

Once they were out of bed, the both of them returned to their usual routines almost instantly. Things seemed better, even – Chara seemed to have taken their recovery very well. Not only were they eating at the table without giving their food strange looks, they were talking more too, even around his parents, even _to_ his parents.

They’d asked Toriel what she’d been knitting (“I do not wish to ruin the surprise, my child”), they’d asked Asgore for clarification on one of his stories (“Well, as they say, Hotland is a very ‘cool’ place”) and they’d asked Asriel if they could use his crayons instead of just taking them without permission as they’d done before (“Of course you can, Chara!”). Every time they spoke, Asriel felt that sense of pride well up within him again.

Chara had even decided to follow him all the way to the garden with his dad instead of staying in the house – they’d been very excited when Asgore had suggested the idea one morning. It was funny - he’d never seen Chara _excited_ before.

The garden was in the throne room. Asriel had never thought anything of that at first, since he’d been carried around in the garden before he was old enough to walk. His father had once explained that it was one of the few places in the underground with soil and sunlight, which were necessary for plants to grow. He’d said that he’d put the throne room where the garden was, rather than the other way around – he liked having his plants so close to his throne.

But that explanation had meant something else to Asriel – that gardens must not be rare on the surface, that they must be everywhere, because there was sunlight and soil everywhere, not to mention room for all kinds of flowers and fruits and other things. And his father had said that, yes, that was mostly true. Ever since he’d told him that, Asriel had entered the garden always feeling a weird emotion, like homesickness, for a place he’d never actually been.

He wondered if Chara ever felt the same way, homesick, because their expression when they entered the throne room was one of total shock.

“Here we -” Asgore started to say, but much to Asriel’s surprise, Chara let go of his hand and rushed past them both. They raced towards a set of tall flowers with yellow petals, all facing the small openings in the cave walls where sunlight shone down from.

“ _Helianthus!”_ they shouted, looking towards Asriel and pointing up at it. Asriel had no idea what they’d just said, and he looked up towards his father, who seemed just as baffled. “I had no idea those could grow here! They must have been imported...”

“Ah, well, if you wish to be precise, all of the flowers here have been imported,” Asgore started to say, but Chara was already off to another set of flowers, light red, the part of the plant Asriel couldn’t recall the name of sticking out from their centers like a long tongue.

“ _Rosa-sinensus!_ Hibiscuses! Look, Asriel, look!”

“They’re beautiful, Cha-” Asriel tried to say, but Chara ran off again.

“ _Bellis perennis! Crysanthemums_! _Ranunculus!_ There are so many of them! _”_

“I have no idea what words the human is using,” said Asgore, wiping a tear from his eye, “but it makes me truly happy to see them so joyful.”

Asriel jogged over to join them as they raced towards a set of pumpkins, crouching down in front of them and examining them.

“What do you call this, Chara?”

“Hmm,” Chara said, putting their hand under their chin. “I believe they call it a pumpkin.”

Asriel stuck his tongue out. Chara stuck their tongue out back and Asriel giggled – it’d been a while since he’d seen them this playful.

“But, actually, they’re called _cucurbita.”_

“Wow, Chara,” Asriel said, genuinely impressed, “where’d you learn all this stuff?”

“I read it,” they replied, as they moved on to examining a set of small blue flowers with bright yellow centers. “I used to visit a library a lot – I preferred the books about plants the most.”

They pointed towards the flowers they were looking at. “These _myotosis_ are beautiful, aren’t they, Asriel?”

“Yeah! They’re one of my favorites.”

“Thank you,” said Asgore’s voice, and Asriel and Chara both whipped around to look up at him – he’d forgotten his father was there. “I worked hard on them – I was afraid they would wilt, but I was quite happy to see them hold on.

"But, human,” he continued, extending one of his enormous paws towards them and spreading it out. In the center, on a tiny red napkin, were three seeds. Asriel looked towards his father’s other paw and saw him holding a pair of shovels and watering cans, also tiny compared to even his father’s fingers. “If you enjoy reading about flowers, how would you like to plant some?”

Asriel watched Chara’s eyes light up. They gently took the seed from out of his dad’s paw, and he handed them one of the shovels and the watering cans before handing the other set to Asriel.

“Thanks, King Dad!” he said, giving his dad a salute before taking one of the remaining seeds.

Chara looked back from staring down at his own seed, towards Asgore. Their arms stiff at their sides, they bent forward into what Asriel guessed was supposed to be a bow. He could really only guess - he'd never actually seen anyone bow to his father before.

“Thank you very much, sir.”

“Ah, there is no need for such formalities, human,” he chuckled. “Asgore is fine, if you prefer. But if you will both come with me, there is a rather spectacular patch of soil over here which I have yet to use...”

* * *

 “Chara?” asked Asriel, arms wrapped around Chara’s waist as they laid on his bed. Chara had been too excited to keep still all day, which was an incredible sight to see from Chara, of all people. But once they’d laid down to sleep and placed their hands in Asriel’s paws, they’d started to relax.

“What is it?” they said, yawning.

“What’s your favorite flower?”

There was no answer at first, and Chara, who had been running their fingers through the fur in Asriel’s paws, suddenly stopped.

“... _Lysimachia nummularia,”_ they said quietly.

“ _Liss_... _a... mach...”_ Asriel squinted. “Ugh, that’s really hard to say.”

Chara let out a small laugh.

“Hey! It is hard!”

“Sorry,” they said, sounding genuinely apologetic. Asriel felt a bit better. “They’re more commonly called ‘creeping jenny’. But in... the village where I came from... the people there called them just golden flowers.”

“Can you tell me about them?” asked Asriel excitably. “Does my dad have any? Are they pretty?”

Asriel felt Chara curl into themselves, their grip on his paws tightening. “...I’d rather not.”

That seemed strange to Asriel. It was their favorite flower, and they loved flowers, but they didn’t want to talk about it? But he knew better than to push.

“...OK.”

“Good night, Asriel.”

Asriel laid his cheek against Chara’s.

“Night, Chara.”

* * *

The next time the two of them came back from the garden, Asriel’s feet were covered in mud. So were Chara’s shoes, and so were the new overalls that Asriel's mother had sewn for them. Seeds were sticking to their clothes.

When they walked in, his mother said she had a surprise waiting for them.

Well, first, she quietly, gently pushed the two of them into taking a bath.

But when they finished that, she was waiting on her chair in the living room, next to the magical fire she’d made after what Asriel now thought of as The Incident. She was wearing her reading glasses. There was a sheet on a pillow in her lap, the same pillow she’d used during the ceremony to give Chara their crown. A large lump, the size of a cookie jar, was under the sheet.

She said to Chara, “I have something to show you, my child.”

Chara was the one to lead Asriel over to her this time, even though Asriel didn’t let go of their hand the whole way anyway.

With a flourish, she removed the sheet. On it, made of black felt and with eyes of white buttons, was a small, hand-knit plush of a boss monster. It stared back at them.

“Whoa!” said Asriel.

Chara only gaped, looking back and forth between the plush and Asriel’s mother.

“It is yours,” she said. “You may take it.”

Chara practically snatched it, as if afraid she’d change her mind. They lifted it to their face, turning it around and around. Asriel stared too. It was a perfect copy of its twin, down to the thick, fingerless arms and legs, the mouth made of stitches, the round torso, the ears long and curved like Asriel’s own.

“I... I...” they said, their eyes visibly watering. He could see their face pinch – it looked like they were trying their hardest not to cry. Asriel stepped closer, ready for an emergency hug if they needed it, and squeezed their hand.

“I know,” Asriel’s mother responded, her expression gentle, her voice soothing even to Asriel. “You feel as if you cannot accept it. The choice is yours to make, my child.”

Chara shook their head, and tears started to roll down their cheeks. “No, I just... I don’t know how to thank you properly.”

“That is more than enough,” Toriel replied, her expression brightening. “It makes me happy to see that you are pleased with it.”

Chara nodded, holding it close to their chest, staring down at it.

“Ma’am?” they said, wiping a tear away with their sleeve.

“Yes, my child?”

“Could you teach me?” they said. “How I can knit.”

Toriel looked surprised, but Asriel felt he might be even _more_ surprised. He’d never considered them as having an interest in knitting before. Well, except that they always would watch his mother whenever she knitted. And that they would sometimes ask her questions about what she was doing. Which, Asriel guessed, should have been clues.

She looked over to the fabrics and materials piled near her chair, as well as at the knitting needles, long and sharp, almost gleaming in the firelight.

“I am so glad you asked, my child,” she said, beaming. “I would be more than happy to teach you. But... it has been a long day, so would it be alright if we perhaps waited until tomorrow?”

Chara nodded, and sniffled, and Asriel realized they might be starting to cry again, and he was sure it was because of what his mom had said – they'd been so eager! He didn't understand why his mother didn't want to tonight.

“You want to go play, Chara?” he asked them, and they nodded, sniffling again.

“Y-yeah, Asriel,” they said. “That sounds like fun.”

* * *

Asriel and Chara continued playing the rest of the afternoon, and then the evening, and then the night, stopping only for a quick break to have dinner.

“Tch! After being friends for so long... I can’t believe we’ve become enemies, Chara!” said Asriel in what he thought was a deep, intimidating voice, crossing his toy’s arms.

“Enemies?” Chara said, in their normal voice, their stuffed boss monster staring straight ahead. Above it, the real Chara cocked their head. “To say the two of us are now opposed, as if we were ever truly partners? I, Chara, have no need for allies – only greater and greater power.”

“Urah ha ha!” Asriel laughed, raising his into the air. “You may think you’re strong, ‘demon’, but this isn’t even my final form!”

Asriel made a _whooooooosh_ sound, then a _psssshew,_ which was, of course, the sound of powerful magic.

“Behold, the true power of the God of Hyperdeath!”

“You are nothing to me, so-called God of Hyperdeath. For it was you who first summoned me into this world, by calling my name... and now I will show you why that choice will be your last mistake.”

“I summon Chaos Buster and shoot you!”

“I dodge!”

“What?” Asriel groaned, in his normal voice. “You can’t dodge that...”

“But I did!”

“Fine, you dodge! But I prepare Star Blazing and fire it at you!”

“I dodge that too!”

“Chara! That’s not fair!”

* * *

“All done!” Asriel shouted, turning towards Chara, who was squinting down at the drawing of a flower they were doing, the tip of their tongue sticking out of their mouth. When he yelled, Chara looked over, and Asriel excitably held up his drawing.

“Look, look!” he said, pointing towards the head of Asriel Dreemurr, God of Hyperdeath, posing dramatically with his arms outstretched. “He has horns, like I’ll have when I’m older! And I gave him my robes too!”

“Nice hair,” said Chara flatly. Asriel turned his drawing back to look at it – he’d drawn, well, himself, with short, dark hair, partially covering his ears. His bangs hung down unevenly over one eye, leaving one large, sparkling eye uncovered. He'd thought it made him look... what was that word he wasn't supposed to say? "Sexy"?

“I thought it made him look... cool.”

“No, no!” Chara said, raising their hands. “He looks very beautiful.”

Chara squinted at the drawing.

“Is that me?”

“Oh, yeah!” Asriel said, turning the drawing back around to face them. He pointed towards the doodle of a significantly shorter human child in a striped green and yellow shirt, their eyes hidden below their bowl cut. In one of their hands was a knife.

“I thought he wouldn’t be complete without his friend, Chara the Demon, so I drew them too! Even though they were enemies once, I’m glad they’re friends again.”

“I am too.”

“So what are you drawing, Chara?” Asriel asked, leaning over to look at their drawing. “Is that those golden flowers you were talking about?”

“Yes,” said Chara, pointing out the yellow colors they had added. “I wanted to show you what they looked like.”

Chara handed him the drawing and he took it, examining it closely. It didn’t look like much – it looked a lot like a totally normal yellow flower. He wasn’t really sure why it was Chara’s favorite.

“It’s pretty,” he said, truthfully. It might not have been the most exciting flower, but it was still pretty. And Chara’s drawing was nice, even if they couldn’t color in the lines quite right – Asriel thought smugly that he was better at coloring than they were. “Can... can you tell me about it?”

“Alright,” they said, although they sounded like they didn’t really want to. They made an _ahem_ noise and scooted their chair closer, and Asriel put the drawing down on the table, watching them closely. “In... in my village... there used to be many, many types of flowers. More than anyone could ever remember.”

Asriel nodded.

“Until, one day, someone carried in the seed of an unknown flower, on their clothes. Nothing like it had ever been seen in the village before. It was called a creeping jenny, which was a fitting name, because it seemed to creep into every corner. Its seeds stuck to people, so it infested people’s houses and people’s gardens, growing wherever it could, and it would suffocate and kill any other flower that got in its way.”

“That sounds like a really mean flower...”

“It was,” Chara agreed, nodding. “It was a very cruel flower, so people tried to get rid of it. But they couldn’t – it would just grow and grow, no matter how hard people tried to crush it or cut it up.”

Chara leaned forward, their eyes and their smile wide. Asriel shivered.

“Eventually, people gave up on trying to put a stop to the flower. It took over everything, and then there were no other flowers anywhere. Just the golden flowers, stretching as far as the eye could see, all along people’s homes and gardens, for miles. The village became infamous for it – the village of golden flowers.”

“Creepy...”

Chara blinked. “I guess.”

“Why would you love a flower like that, Chara?”

“I...” Chara said. They looked uncomfortable again, leaning back in their chair and crossing their arms. Their smile became a frown. “I don’t know. I suppose I wanted to be like that flower.”

Asriel thought that was a weird thing to say, but before he could say so, there was the sound of heavy footsteps behind them, and the two of them turned to see Toriel standing over them. In a second, Chara's expression changed to their normal wide smile.

“Greetings, children,” she said. “Were you drawing?”

“Mmm-hmm!”

“May I see?” she said, beaming, and Asriel didn’t wait to turn around and hand her his drawing. She lifted it up, squinting over her reading glasses, but she only continued to stare at it, as if unsure what to make of it.

“It’s very... interesting,” she said. “Is this you as a grown-up, Asriel?”

“I hope so!”

“And this is the human, yes?” she said, looking towards Chara, whose smile became a little smaller. “Ah, I am sorry, my child. This is Chara?”

“Yeah!” said Asriel.

His mother reached out and ruffled both their heads, the both of them batting her hands away. Asriel giggled.

“Well, neither are as cute as the real things, in my opinion.”

“Mommmmm!”

“But it is a very nice drawing,” she added, returning it to him. “Chara, may I see yours?”

Chara nodded, and Asriel put his drawing back on the table and handed her Chara’s. She took one look at it and her face lit up.

“Oh, how beautiful!” she said to them, placing a hand on her chest. “In all my years, I do not believe I have ever seen this type of flower... what is it called?”

“It’s a golden flower,” Chara explained. “That’s what the people from my village called it.”

“Well, it is a lovely drawing, my child,” she said. “When we are done, we should be sure to hang it up in your room.”

Chara looked up at her, clearly confused.

“Done with what?”

“Why, teaching you knitting. Are you still interested?”

Asriel looked back at Chara, who seemed just as surprised as he was. He grinned at them, and they gave him a wide, genuine smile back before turning back to his mother.

“Absolutely!”

“Then please take my hand. We will sit in my chair.”

Chara did, climbing out of their chair, and Asriel followed behind, taking Chara’s other hand. She led the two of them to her chair by the fireplace, where her knitting supplies were already waiting for them.

She sat in the chair, giving her leg a quick tap, and Asriel and Chara both climbed onto her lap. She reached over the side of the chair, picking up her knitting needles and a roll of yarn. She set the knitting needles into Chara’s hands, her paws closing over their hands, and Chara watched closely as she used their hands to begin to wrap the thread around the needles.

“Now, the first thing you do is...”

* * *

That night, Asriel and Chara looked at the drawing of the golden flower, taped onto the wall next to Chara’s bed. Chara didn’t seem happy with it – they looked away from it and frowned, and Asriel watched them from the corner of his eye and rubbed his arm.

Asriel couldn’t stop thinking about the golden flowers, the way Chara got weird or kind of angry whenever they talked about them. And there was what they had said - “I suppose I wanted to be like that flower.” He knew asking them about their life was a bad idea, but he was curious, so curious he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep if he didn’t ask what was on his mind.

“Chara?” he asked, eventually. “Do these flowers... make you happy?”

Chara crossed their arms tightly. “No.”

“Is there... is there _anything_ that makes you happy?”

Chara glared at him, turned around, and marched straight for their bed.

“Chara! Chara, wait!”

Asriel raced after them, trying to get to them before they got there, and ran straight into their back. He wrapped his arms around their waist and rested his head on their shoulder.

“I don’t wish to talk about this any further, Asriel,” they said. They sounded angry at him, a tone Asriel hadn’t heard from them in a while, and he felt a terrible, familiar twist in his gut.

“I know, I know,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry. It’s just... I don’t understand why you always seem so sad! I just wish I knew what to do.”

He was crying again, into their pajama top, and he felt horribly embarrassed about it – he wished, just one time, that he could be strong for them and not burst into tears as soon as he got upset.

“Grow up.”

Asriel took his head out of Chara’s shirt and looked up at the back of their head, at their bowl cut. He didn't understand. Why was Chara so angry?

“W-what?”

“It’s not your job to _fix me_. Stop crying. Grow up already.”

Asriel reeled, taking a step back – he wasn't sure he'd heard them right. He felt like he’d fallen down, his whole world seeming to disappear under his feet, leaving just him and Chara.

Chara wiggled free from his grip. Turning around towards Asriel, they jabbed a finger into his face, under his nose.

“Big kids don’t cry,” they said. “So are you a big kid or not?”

Asriel struggled to find words. He wanted to stand up for himself, to tell them off for being rude, but he also wanted to ask them why they were talking to him this way, what he had done wrong. He couldn't understand Chara's sudden anger at all.

Chara didn’t seem to care. They climbed into their bed before Asriel got a word out, picked up the boss monster plush his mother had sewn for them, and buried themselves under the blankets.

“Chara...” Asriel whispered, finally, but Chara didn’t respond.

He didn’t see them for the rest of the night.

* * *

Asriel was afraid that things’d be weird between them the next day. Even after all these months, he still didn't really understand Chara, especially when they got angry like that. But the way they acted afterwards was just as strange. Sometimes, they'd lay in bed for several days. Sometimes, they'd apologize to him for getting mad, nearly crying. Sometimes, they would act like nothing had happened at all.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting this time. But, when he woke up, Chara was sitting on the edge of their bed, still in their pajamas, hugging their boss monster plush to their chest. They were staring straight at him, smiling their usual smile.

“I’m sorry,” they said.

“Chara?” he asked them, rubbing his eyes. “You weren’t up all night, were you?”

Chara nodded, and Asriel climbed out of his bed and walked over to theirs, sitting down next to them. Chara didn’t look his direction – they just continued to stare straight ahead and hug the stuffed toy in their arms.

“I’m sorry too,” he said, and now Chara looked over at him, the smile on their face replaced with a frown.

“For what? I’m the one who insulted you.”

“But I’m the one who pried!” said Asriel, clenching his paws. “And if I hadn’t done that, you might have got some sleep! So it’s my fault - I’m the one who should be sorry.”

Chara set the boss monster plush aside and leaned forward. Asriel was half-expecting Chara to kiss him on the forehead again - not that he thought about that often or anything - but instead, they wrapped their arms around Asriel and pulled themself close. Asriel blinked, but then he hugged them back, patting their shoulder.

Asriel felt his pajama top getting wet and, even though he couldn’t see Chara’s face, he knew why. It was still strange for him to see Chara cry.

“Nobody... nobody’s ever apologized to me before,” they said, sniffling, and Asriel went cold. Every time he learned something about Chara, he felt more and more that he needed, more than anything in the world, to keep them safe. “You really are so kind to me...”

“You’re my best friend, Chara,” he replied. “Of course I’d be nice to you!”

“I don’t deserve it,” they mumbled into his shirt. “I... I _hurt_ you _._ I’m worse than all the other humans. I’m a _demon._ Why don’t you hate me too?”

“Hate you?! But... Chara, I...” Asriel paused, the words he wanted to say not sounding quite right. “...care about you a whole lot. I could never, ever hate you!”

Chara didn’t reply - they only kept crying, and crying, and Asriel continued to hold them until they finally stopped.

Eventually, with a big, ugly sniffle, they broke away from the hug, wiping the tears from their eyes.

“’Big kids don’t cry’, right?” they said. They laughed, a short, bitter-sounding laugh. “I’m such a hypocrite.”

Asriel had to admit, it was a little weird. Chara cried a lot, for someone who hated crying. But that was just how Chara was - they had lots of weird mood swings he couldn't really understand. He wasn't going to hold that against them.

"My Dad’s always said it’s OK to cry sometimes,” Asriel said, offering them his sleeve, and they took it and wiped the tears from their eyes. He gave them a small smile, but they looked as miserable as before. “Why don’t we go get breakfast?”

Chara shook their head.

“OK,” he replied, “I’ll get it for you. Just stay here a minute, OK?”

Chara nodded, and with that, Asriel climbed off the bed and out of the room. He gave them one last glance before he shut the door to their bedroom behind himself.

Resting his back against his bedroom door, he sighed. Chara really was worse off than he thought – how could he keep them safe from something like that?

* * *

Chara returned to Asriel’s side that night, climbing into his bed when he went to sleep. It was strange to have had to take their meals to them again, to not have had them follow him everywhere he went, but they were upset. He could understand if they didn’t want to deal with all the questions his parents had.

Asriel knew better than to ask what was on his mind about them that night, but as the nights continued to pass and he continued to try to sleep with Chara laying next to him, they continued to hover around his mind, like Whimsuns.

Eventually, he did ask one of them.

“Chara, you don’t have to, um, say anything,” he said, “...but has nobody really ever said sorry to you before?”

He felt Chara shrug. “Not that I can remember.”

“Didn’t you have any friends?”

“No.”

Asriel figured he could relate to that – he didn’t have many friends besides Chara either, and these days, he never seemed to have time to see them. He wasn’t like his dad, who seemed to make friends with everyone. He always felt so shy around people his age, so sure he wasn’t living up to the idea of being a prince, that he didn’t get very close to anyone.

He knew better than to ask about Chara’s parents.

“...Can I ask you something else?” he said.

“I suppose so.”

“What’s a demon? I’ve been wondering... since, you know...”

Asriel could feel Chara pressing their fingers against the mattress. “It’s a monster.”

“Oh!” Asriel said, his ears perking up. “I’ve never heard anyone called that before... but that’s cool!”

“Not... that kind. Not like all of you. It’s an evil, malicious monster, like that flower. It only destroys things and gets in the way, so humans hate it. They try to kill it.”

Asriel considered this.

“But... you’re nothing like that, Chara.”

In his arms, he felt Chara move, as if they were trying to look back at him. “What?”

“You don’t destroy things,” he explained softly. “You’re not... evil, or, um, ‘malicious’? I don’t think you’re a demon at all.”

He felt Chara flinch, curling into themselves. He didn’t know why, but he realized that maybe he shouldn’t have used that word.

“Thank... thank you. I guess.”

“I mean it, Chara,” he insisted. “You’re... a good person.”

Chara nodded slowly. Asriel wasn’t sure if they believed it, but he hoped it had helped... whatever was going through their mind. Whatever they thought about themselves. The thought that Chara viewed themselves that way was... too awful for Asriel to think about.

Asriel yawned, rubbing at his eyes.

“No offense, Chara, but... I’m getting sleepy. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

Chara nodded. Asriel wrapped his arms around Chara’s waist and laid his head in the crook of their shoulder.

“Not a demon,” they repeated, after a few minutes.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [Light](lightrises.tumblr.com) and my friend Will for their extensive help beating this fic!


	3. But Here You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been almost a year since Chara entered the Dreemurr's lives. And, as the anniversary of that day approaches, Chara and Asriel take a trip back to where it all began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _If you'll be my star  
>  I'll be your sky  
> You can hide underneath me  
> And come out at night_
> 
> \- Boats and Birds, Gregory and the Hawk

It’d been almost a year since Chara had fallen down – since they had entered his life. Their lives.

They were so different now, so much that Asriel could barely tell that they were the same Chara.

His mom was teaching them how to cook now. Asriel barely understood it, no matter how much he had helped his mom in the past, but he held their hand and watched. He loved seeing the way Chara’s eyes lit up when his mother cast fire magic to bake her pies, or boil water, or warm the oven. Sometimes, Chara even spoke to her – they’d once suggested she put extra cinnamon into one of her pies, and she’d laughed and said she’d never thought of that before.

They spent a lot of time in the garden. They seemed to love planting – they absorbed his dad’s every word, his every speech on how growing flowers meant bringing in new life, how willing a flower to bloom represented your hopes for it. They let him touch their hands, to direct them as they tilled the soil, watered the seeds, cut away weeds. Asriel never saw Chara as happy as he saw them when a new flower had bloomed – they’d pull him over and, almost bouncing up and down, they’d point it out and name it for him.

They spent every other waking moment playing with him. They’d splash him in the bathtub, getting water all over the floor. They’d wrestle in the bedroom until they were a pile on the floor, laughing their heads off. They’d play with their toys, having their characters fight over and over. They once chased him around the house with a plastic knife, giggling and yelling “Die, die, die!”, running under Toriel’s robes just to catch him.

They even looked different. Their skin no longer had that trademark paleness, and the circles under their eyes had completely disappeared. It made Asriel so happy just to look at their face, to see their smiles, big and genuine.

It was another month of this before Chara had an idea.

They were going to bake _their own_ pie. For his parents – to thank them for everything they’d done. It was going to be a big secret. Asriel would tell his parents to leave the house one day and take a trip to Snowdin, for a special surprise when they came back, and him and Chara would bake the pie together for their return. Asriel had thought it was a great idea.

When his parents had left, after Asriel had reassured his mother for the millionth time that they’d be fine, and no, they weren’t going to burn the house down while they were gone (probably), the two of them had set to work. Chara had pulled out Toriel’s ancient recipe book and set it on the kitchen counter, opening it to the page on butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Chara was just tall enough to be able to easily see over the counter, unlike Asriel who had to get on his tiptoes, so Chara relayed the instructions to him.

“Take one pound and a half of fine flower... flower?”

“Flower?” Asriel repeated.

“That’s what it says. F-L-O-W-E-R. Wait, what kind of flower? Hmm... it says ‘take of one and one half butter cups, mingle them well together.’ That has to be the flower.”

“Buttercups?” Asriel went to check their spice cabinet, but he didn’t see anything like that. He’d never seen _anything_ like that. He checked the other pantries, but still no sign of them. “Are you sure?”

Chara glared down at him.

“I’m positive that’s what it says. It’s called a butterscotch-cinnamon pie, so... I guess buttercups make sense.”

Asriel nodded. That made sense to him too.

“Oh!” Asriel gasped as he realized something. “I think we have some buttercups in the garden. We could get some from there.”

* * *

“Chara,” said Asriel, having changed into his gardening clothes, as they walked the long path to the garden in the throne room. “Are you sure it said buttercups?”

Chara stopped in their tracks.

“Asriel,” they said, without turning around. “Are you questioning me?”

“No, never!” Asriel said quickly. “Of course not, Chara.”

* * *

The two of them returned, still in their gardening clothes, with the buttercups in a bowl. They didn’t have a knife, so Chara, still wearing gloves, pulled apart the buttercups by hand and sprinkled them into a mixing bowl with the other ingredients.

“Now we need to preheat the oven. I suppose. It doesn’t say anything about ovens in this, but that’s what your mother does.”

Asriel tilted his head. “Shouldn’t we have done that before we left?”

“We would have burned down the house. Don’t be an idiot.”

“Oh.” Asriel’s ears drooped. Chara didn’t call him names often, but it always stung. “Right.”

“Can you use fire magic? Like your mother?”

Asriel scratched his cheek.

“I... think so? I’ve been practicing! Let me try!”

Asriel held his paws out in front of him and concentrated hard. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to focus on the magic that flowed through him, trying to will it out of himself... he thought about light, and heat, and fire, about forming it in his paws.

He peeked through one eye. Nothing had happened. Chara stared at his paw, their arms crossed, tapping their foot.

Asriel shut his eyes again, concentrating harder, sticking his tongue out from between his fangs as he focused as hard as he could. Fire, fire, fire...

There was a _froosh_ sound. He opened his eyes and there it was – a tiny, flickering flame, barely as large as one of his claws.

“I did it!” Asriel whisper-shouted. “I did it, Chara! Look, look!”

Chara stared at the fire with wide eyes, stepping towards him. Asriel waved it in front of them and they bent down to look at it more closely—Asriel could see the flames reflected in their eyes.

“Wow!” they said, smiling. “Nice job, Ree!"

Asriel grinned, blushing. “Thanks, Chara!”

“But...” Chara added, their smile fading. “That’s not big enough to warm up the oven.”

Asriel’s ears drooped. The flame disappeared. “Oh, yeah. You’re right.”

“It’s alright,” Chara said. “I’ll just preheat it normally.”

* * *

When Asriel’s parents came home, Asriel and Chara emerged from the kitchen. Chara was wearing a big chef’s hat, the one that Toriel sometimes wore as a joke, that Asriel had insisted they wear. It was too big for their head and kept slipping down. Asriel, in an oversized apron, held out the pie and shouted “Surprise!”

Toriel laughed. “My goodness!”

Asgore, though, burst into tears.

“C... children!” he said to them, bending down and wrapping them in a tearful hug. Chara looked mildly uncomfortable, and Asriel couldn’t hug him back with a pie in his hands, but Asriel beamed anyway. “What a wonderful gift. I could not possibly thank you enough.”

They set the table and Toriel went to fetch a knife and forks. Asriel had already set out plates for everyone, but due to... The Incident... his mom had hid the knives and forks somewhere.

By the time she came back, Asgore had already stuck his fingers in the pie and taken a bite.

“Gorey, please,” Toriel sighed, although she was smiling. “Could you not have patience for once? You are setting a bad example for the children.”

“How could I help it?” he chuckled. “It’s delicious, as always.”

“Well, if you are so impatient, I suppose we will serve you first.”

And she cut the pie into slices and placed one on Asgore’s plate. Immediately, without hesitation, he dug in.

Until he dropped his fork.

Until he reached, desperately, for his throat.

Until he threw up.

Until he fell out of his chair.

* * *

 

Asriel didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about it at all – but he hadn’t been able to stop. Everything that’d happened had just kept playing over and over again in his mind, like a videotape.

He knew it must be the same for Chara. It had to be.

So, once he’d checked his dad’s room, where he was laying in bed with Toriel at his side, he rushed over to his room to check on Chara.

Chara was sitting on their bed, as he expected them to be. They were curled up into a ball, their knees tight against their chest. Their hands were in their hair, but he couldn’t see their expression at all.

“Chara, are you…” he started to say, rushing over to their side.

“Buttercups,” they said.

Asriel stopped. “Huh?”

“Buttercups,” they repeated. Their grip on their hair got tighter, so much that Asriel was sure it had to hurt, and they started to slowly rock back and forth. “Cups of butter!”

They started to laugh. It sounded kind of like a normal laugh, at first, their high-pitched and strange laugh. But then they kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing. The more they laughed, the louder it got, and the less it started to sound like laughter. Soon, their breaths came out in heaves, in sputters. They kept laughing anyway, as if they didn’t know how to stop.

Asriel stood there, frozen in place. “It’s not... it’s not that funny.”

“I’m a demon!” Chara said. They seemed to find this funny too—they only kept laughing. “I’m a demon! Ha ha… they were right! All of them were right! I deserve… I deserve…”

Asriel didn’t know what else to do. He took a step forward and reached out for a hug.

Before he could wrap his arms around them, Chara looked up. He saw the tears on their cheeks, the deep red scratches under their eyes, for just a second before he suddenly felt a sharp, jarring pain on his nose. Then he was falling backwards, to the ground.

He hit it with a crash, sending a fallen toy scattering across the floor. His nose hurt, a lot, and he reached up and touched it gingerly.

It took him a moment to realize what had happened. Chara had punched him.

Chara didn’t seem shocked. They still seemed to think all of this was the funniest thing in the world. They only stared down at him with that wide smile, their fist still raised, and then they started to laugh, even harder than before. Their smile got even wider, wavier.

“Get out!” they shouted, between laughs. _“Get out!”_

And Asriel raced out of the room, not even looking behind himself. He ran back to his father's room, but when a startled Toriel asked what had happened, he couldn't explain it to her. He just broke down into tears until she picked him up and sat him in her lap. He cried into her chest as she pet his hair and healed his wound, cooing that things would be alright.

* * *

Eventually, once he'd stopped crying, Asriel asked one of the questions that he couldn't help but ask - were him and Chara in trouble? For the pie accident?

“Of course I will not punish you,” Toriel said to him, while Asgore slept peacefully in the bed next to her, no longer coughing or choking. “You told me the truth. Why would I punish you for that?"

“What about Chara?” he asked, tapping his claws together. “They’re still upset... they haven’t got out of bed at all. Not even to eat!”

Toriel’s frown deepened, and she looked towards the floor. “I know, dearest one. I have tried to speak to them, but they will not listen to me.”

“But...”

Asgore’s voice suddenly filled the room, and Asriel went quiet, both him and his mother looking up towards him.

“I will speak to them.”

Asriel looked between his mother and father. He could tell what she was thinking from her expression, the ways her brows were raised.

“I will bring them to you,” she said.

“No. I don’t believe that they’ll come to see me,” he replied, smiling softly. “There is no need to worry about me – I can walk.”

With that, although Toriel had to hold him to keep him from falling, Asgore climbed out of his bed. Asriel followed closely behind, keeping an eye on his father to see if there was any way he could help, as they slowly made their way towards Asriel’s bedroom.

His mother knocked on the door. There was no answer, so she opened it, and his father walked in, his wife and Asriel following.

Chara didn’t say anything, or move, not even when Asriel’s mother helped his father lower himself onto Chara’s bed. The mattress sank beneath his weight. They didn’t move when he reached out a massive paw, laying it on their shoulder.

“Greetings, human,” he said.

“Go away,” Chara’s voice said, their voice quiet, hoarse.

“Ah, well.” Asriel’s father put a paw under his chin, looking as if he was in careful thought. “I have walked all the way here, and I _am_ very tired. Is it alright if I rest here a moment?”

There was no reply from under the blankets.

“Thank you,” he said.

For a long moment, nobody said anything.

“I will go fetch us some tea,” said Toriel, walking out of the room. She gave a long, last glance at the three of them.

Asriel didn’t know what else to do, so he went to sit on his bed and watch.

He heard Chara’s voice speak, so quietly he couldn’t understand it.

“Greetings again, human,” his father said.

There was a short pause, Chara muttering something Asriel couldn’t hear. His father looked over to them, his eyebrows raised.

“Hate you? Of course I don’t hate you, child,” he said, his voice calm and soothing. The door to the bedroom opened, and Asriel looked to see his mother entering the room. There was a golden tea cup and his father’s favorite teapot, the one shaped like a lion wearing a crown, in her paws.

“Mistakes do happen,” he continued. “Why, once I accidentally put pennyroyals into my tea instead of mint – I was sick for quite a while. Certainly an embarrassing, and I must say, strikingly similar, incident.”

Asriel’s mother went over to him to hand over the tea, and he thanked her, pouring a cup.

“In a sense, you’re a part of my family, just as Asriel is,” he continued, taking a sip. “You may not be related to us by blood, or even the same race as us, but human, I will always care for you, no matter what mistakes you make.”

Chara didn’t move for a long while, and Asriel’s father merely continued to sip his tea, not moving either. Then, without warning, Chara scooted forward to his side, wrapped their arms around his arm, and buried their face in his sleeve.

Asgore didn’t look surprised at all. He just set the tea down on the bed, leaned over, and wrapped his other arm around Chara, patting them on the back.

“There, there, human,” he said. “It is alright. Would you like some tea? I find it helps me to relax in these situations.”

Chara backed away from Asgore’s arm, nodding, and Asriel's father picked up the cup of tea, blew on it, and handed it to them. Without hesitation, they drank it, and Asgore smiled. Asriel looked over to his mother and she was smiling too.

Asriel breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Asriel didn’t see much of Chara over the next few weeks either – they seemed to be spending all their time with his mother, learning to knit. Asriel didn’t mind, really. He was happy for them to be spending time with her.

But he had to admit that when he was drawing or playing and his paw was empty, or when he looked around and Chara just wasn’t there? He did feel a pang of... something or other. Loneliness, maybe.

So he spent more time in the garden, helping his father with the plants. Whenever the two of them would come back in the afternoon, Chara would immediately stop knitting and Toriel would put away whatever they had been working on. Chara would run over to him and ask him if he wanted to play, which always made him feel better.

And, sometimes, when he did stay at home, Toriel would ask them if they wanted to take a break, which for her just meant “it’s time to take a break.” Chara would run over to him and take him by the paw. They’d lead him to his mother, where they’d both sit on her lap and take a nap, or read a book, or just talk.

On one of those lazy afternoons, Toriel was reading a book to them when Chara interrupted.

“This is boring,” they said, still smiling.

Asriel’s mouth dropped. “What?! Chara, how can you not like _The Snowdrake’s Family Reunion?_ That’s my favorite!”

“I like the part where the Snowdrake’s mother tells a joke,” Toriel agreed.

“Aww, Mom, don’t spoil it... Chara hasn’t read it.”

“It’s for babies," they said flatly.

Asriel crossed his arms, huffing. His mother set the book down, patted his head, and went "there, there."

“Well, what’s _your_ favorite book then?” he asked.

Chara’s smile faded, and they looked down towards the chair, frowning.

“ _Kitchen,”_ they said at last. Asriel raised his eyebrows at them, then looked up at his mother to see if she knew what they were talking about. She shrugged.

“I said your favorite book, not your favorite room...” he said, and Chara stuck their tongue out at him.

“It _is_ a book, it’s by Banana Yoshimoto...” they said.

“That’s a weird name.”

“...and I read it in a library,” they continued, ignoring him. “It’s about a woman named Mikage. Her parents die, so she’s raised by her grandparents, but they also die, so she lives with a man named Yuichi and his mother, Eriko. And she starts to fall in love with Yuichi.”

“That sounds sad...” said Asriel.

“Yes,” Toriel agreed. “Why does everyone have to die in it? That does not sound like an appropriate story for children...”

“It’s not for children, it’s a book for adults,” said Chara, smiling what Asriel thought was a little smugly. They had put extra emphasis on the word “adults.”

“Does Yuichi die?” asked Asriel.

“Asriel,” said his mother. “Do not make fun of their book.”

“I’m not making fun!” he said back, balling his paws into fists. “I’m really curious!”

Chara looked away. “No, he doesn't. But Eriko does.”

“The mother?” said Toriel. “Oh dear.”

“Aw, Chara! Don’t spoil it!” Asriel groaned.

“You’re the one who asked!” said Chara, glaring. Toriel glared down at them back, and then at Asriel, and Asriel suddenly decided it wasn’t worth arguing over.

“Besides,” Chara went on, “it’s not like it really matters. You told me all the books here are written by monsters.”

Asriel _had_ said that, even though it was really only a little bit true – sometimes, he’d heard of books washing up in Waterfall, in the garbage dump there. Only comics tended to stay in good enough condition to read, and he was the only one interested in human comics.

But now that Chara had described their favorite book, he was curious. And, knowing he probably wouldn’t be able to ever read it himself, a little bit frustrated.

“Can you remember any of it?” he asked, leaning forward. Chara looked deep in thought.

“Well, not exactly,” they said. “But I remember some parts.”

They coughed. When they spoke again, it was very, very quickly, as if memories were flowing out of them all at once.

“The place I like best in the world is the kitchen. No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it’s a kitchen, if it’s a place where they make food, it’s fine with me. Ideally, it should be well broken in. Lots of tea towels, dry and immaculate. White tile catching the light”—they spread their fingers out, twice—“ting, ting!”

Asriel looked at them, baffled – what did any of that even mean?—and his mother raised an eyebrow.

“Surely, my child, you did not memorize all of that?” she said.

“That didn’t make any sense at all,” Asriel whined, holding his head.

Chara let out a huff, leaning back against Toriel and crossing their arms. Toriel only replied by patting their head and going “there, there."

* * *

Asriel didn’t see Chara when he went to sleep either, because Chara continued knitting long into the night, until Asriel couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. At least, that’s what Asriel guessed they were doing – they’d still be knitting with his mother when he went to his bedroom. He’d always wake up in the morning and Chara would be there in their bed, tucked under their blanket with their toy in their arms, fast asleep.

When he spent his nights alone, Asriel felt that strange not-quite-lonely feeling again. But he’d also feel pangs of pride, happiness, and something else in the depths of his soul when he woke up and they were there, sleeping like a baby.

As long as they were happy, he was happy. That’s what he told himself.

* * *

Asriel sometimes wondered if the two of them got on his parent's nerves.

Sometimes, it was because they made huge messes. Once, it was because Chara had done something really odd. He’d gone to his room to get them to play and he’d heard them moaning “Asriel, help me!” from the other side. When he’d thrown the door open, sure they were dying, they were on the floor. The ground was covered in some kind of red liquid, and Chara was laying in it, writhing.

“I’m dying, Asriel!”

“C-Chara!” he had shouted. “W-what’s all this stuff?!”

And Chara had turned over to stare at him blankly, covered head-to-toe in... what was obviously ketchup.

“It’s... it’s blood. I mean, obviously.”

Asriel crossed his arms. “You’re not really hurt, are you?”

Chara sighed.

The two of them had to spend the next week cleaning the ketchup off the floor.

Or, if the two of them weren’t making huge messes, they were getting into fights. Once, Asriel had decided to get back at them for their failed “prank.” He and Chara were in the garden, and Chara was staring at a bunch of roses, looking at them closely to check to see that they were healthy. And Asriel had decided, while they were distracted, to run off and hide.

A few minutes later, he’d heard them yelling out “Asriel? Asriel?! Where’d you go?” and he’d almost given himself away by giggling.

Then he had burst out from behind the roses with a “Boo!”, holding a pumpkin in front of his head. Chara shoved him over, the pumpkin bursting when it hit the ground. It only made him laugh even harder.

Letting out a screech, Chara had jumped on top of him, knocking him into a puddle of mud.

“You... you!” they had shouted. “How dare you!”

But Asriel had kept laughing, playfully pushing them away, until the two of them were wrestling in the mud. It had taken him a few minutes to realize Chara was serious – he didn’t think about it until he saw their lip wobbling, the tears forming in their eyes, as they sat on top of him.

He got into big trouble for that. His dad had to split them up, and they were both covered in mud, which meant they had to take another bath. They had got into a big argument over it, because Chara hadn’t wanted to bathe with him that time, and Toriel had to eventually insist that they just take one separately.

Chara didn’t talk to him for a week after that.

And if they weren’t playing pranks on each other or fighting, they’d be underfoot. It had only gotten worse once Chara had finally finished knitting whatever they had been knitting (Asriel still wasn’t sure what it was). The two of them hid behind Toriel, snuck fingers into her pies, got whatever was on their feet and clothes all over every room. But whenever they played like that, she'd stop whatever she was doing to watch them and she'd smile at them, looking more at peace than he'd seen her in a long, long time.

Once, they ran around the house, Chara with their Creepy Face, Asriel screaming and giggling as the two of them left muddy footprints on the floor. They weren’t looking where they were going, and they rammed, one-by-one, right into Toriel as she was leaving the kitchen.

She only crouched down and wrapped them both in her arms.

“Greetings, children,” she said.

"Howdy, mom!"

"Greetings, Asriel’s mother."

"I was looking for you two," she continued, smiling down at them. "I was speaking to your father, Asriel, and we were wondering... how would the two of you feel about a trip?"

Asriel wrinkled his nose. "Not to Hotland, right? I don't like that place."

He looked over to Chara, who was frowning, and added, "And Chara's never been outside the castle."

"Well, there is a first time for everything, is there not?" she replied, stepping back and placing a paw on Chara's shoulder. Chara reached up and rubbed their other arm. "And besides, my child, you have actually been there before."

A realization went through Asriel and he gasped, raising his paws in front of his mouth. "Oh, you mean-"

"Yes," she said, her smile widening. "To Home. It is a long trip, but we can use the River Person, so we will not have to stay in Hotland long."

"It's been a while..." Asriel said, looking back towards Chara. "And we'd be going together, OK, Chara? I'd keep you safe!"

"And I promise, if you are uncomfortable, we will return at once," his mother added. "But I assure you, there is a good reason for me to ask this of you."

She winked, which didn't seem to reassure Chara at all. Asriel _ooh_ ed—their trips to Home to check on the hole leading up to the surface weren't usually very exciting, with one obvious exception, but if there was some kind of surprise...

"Fine," Chara said, slowly, still rubbing their arm. "I'll go."

Asriel pulled them into a hug.

“Yeah!” he shouted. “It’s going to be so fun!”

* * *

Chara was not enjoying the trip. Hotland was too hot even in the short walk it took to get to the River Person, and they'd refused to wear anything but their yellow and green sweater. They’d thrown up over the side of the River Person's boat while the River Person continued to talk as if nothing was wrong ("Tra la la. I hear you are what you eat. But what does that make me? I've never eaten anything”).

But they’d been firm about not going back home. No matter how many times his mother promised them that nobody would judge them and they could just go another day, they just took one look at Asriel holding their hand and insisted that they were fine.

They arrived in Waterfall. There was no real reason for them to go to Waterfall instead of straight to Snowdin, but it was tradition on visits to Home for them to drop by Gerson at his shop first. Besides, his mother would never stop directly in Snowdin without putting at least four scarves and another sweater on Asriel, and he was sure Chara was going to get the same treatment.

When they went to the shop, Asriel occupied himself with looking at some of Gerson's collected garbage: figurines and statuettes and collectable cups and other human knick-knacks. Chara stood behind him and tapped their foot, not especially interested in anything Asriel showed them.

"I still can't believe you gave up adventuring, Sir Gerson," he heard his father say, while Asriel excitably held up a copy of a human comic book series about a boy and his apparently good friends, a bunch of big-eyed cat women in skimpy clothing. It was soaking wet and splashed with mud. Chara stuck their tongue out at it, so he put it back down.

"Wa ha ha! You going senile already, Fluffybuns?" he heard Gerson reply. "I gave up that old racket decades ago!"

"Oh, yes, I know. But it's such a shame to lose the Hammer of Justice—you remember how all the children loved it. It was very 'sweet,' as I believe they'd say."

"Bah. If I wanted to hear a bunch of kids shouting a fake name at me, I'd be a wrestler!"

Asriel snickered—he'd never seen Gerson fight, but it was hard to imagine him, with his growing wrinkles and graying beard, ever wrestling. Much less in the uniform. Chara gave him a look.

"Hey," Gerson continued, "why not? You can wrestle with me too, Fluffybuns! We can be a tag team—heck, Fluffybuns could be your stage name! Wa ha ha! Now _there's_ an image!"

"Oh no," said Toriel's voice, and Asriel looked over from the junk pile towards her as she lifted his father's arm into the air, much to his apparent surprise. "I believe it is the two of us who would be the 'tag team'."

"Oh, Tori," said his father before pulling her into a hug and lifting her off the floor, causing her to break out into laughter. "That's so kind of you!"

Asriel made a _blegh_ sound. Chara took one look at them and blushed even more deeply than normal, sticking their hands in their pockets and looking at the floor. His parents started to nuzzle each other's noses, apparently oblivious.

"Mommmmm! Daddddddd!" Asriel groaned, when they progressed to smacking their lips at each other, making kissing noises. "Stop being gross!"

"Yeeeeeah," Gerson agreed, squinting at Asriel's parents. "I have a very strict No Kissing, No Nuzzling policy here, you know."

"My apologies," Asriel's father said, setting his wife back down. "That's the first I've heard of that."

"That's because I just made it up! Wa hah hah hah!"

Chara rolled their eyes but Asriel laughed—he loved Gerson and his lame jokes. And he was glad that his parents had stopped being weird for five minutes.

A few minutes went by after that where nothing much happened. Asriel continued showing Chara various trinkets, not bothered by their obvious lack of interest, and his parents continued shopping around. This continued until there was a soft _thump_ as his mother placed something on the table. Gerson said something to her that Asriel didn't quite hear.

"Shh. It is a secret, remember?" he overheard his mother say to Gerson. She was holding some kind of book in front of him, face-down on the table, covering it with her paws.

"Ah, yeah! A secret, right. Well, this old turtle's good at keeping those.”

* * *

It felt strange being in Home again. It was always a weird feeling whenever he went there—their house in Home looked exactly like New Home, so it always felt a lot to Asriel like they were taking a long trip only to end up right back where they’d started.

Still, he thought as he let go of Chara's hand and started to take off his extra sweaters and scarves, some things were different now. There weren't any muddy footprints in the corners, the ones his mother hadn’t cleaned yet. The fire in the fireplace wasn't lit, like the magical fireplace at home always was. And, most importantly, there were only three chairs at the table, not four.

"So what's the surprise?" he asked immediately.

"Patience, dearest one," his mother replied. "Why don't you go and play with Chara? I will bake us a pie, and then there will be the surprise."

She paused, blinking.

"Oh! Of course, I mean, _perhaps_ there will be a surprise."

Asriel nodded, took Chara's hand again, and started to lead them to his bedroom, or what had used to be his bedroom.

He was almost a little too excited to open the door. It was basically the same room, the same wallpaper, the same rug, the same bed, but in a way it felt to Asriel like showing Chara old photographs of himself—he'd spent a lot of years in this room, and he'd never really shown it off to anyone else before.

When he did open it, when he flicked on the lamp, Chara seemed just as confused. They'd been looking around Home the whole time, as if they weren't sure that this wasn't some kind of prank and everyone was going to laugh at them for thinking they'd actually traveled anywhere. But now they were frowning, squinting at the side of the room where their bed normally was. Except for a lamp on a table, it was empty.

There were a few other things that were different too. There was only one boss monster toy, not two. And, above his bed, were stars. Stars and the sun and the moon and the planets, all made of plastic, hanging from a mobile.

“What’s this?” Chara asked.

“It’s the solar system!” Asriel said, raising his eyebrows. “Duh!”

“I figured _that_ out. Why do you have it?”

“Oh,” Asriel said. He stared at the flat, plastic moon. It slowly spun around. “It’s from when I was a baby. I always liked the stars and stuff! I want to see one for real someday. You’ve seen them, right, Chara?”

“Yes. Many times.”

“I’m jealous!” Asriel grinned at them. “Did you know there’s a star named Chara?”

Chara shook their head.

“It’s part of a constellation,” Asriel said, almost without thinking. He still liked to read about stars, even if it made him feel that weird not-quite-homesickness feeling again. “I bet it’s really pretty! I’d love to see it some day.”

Chara blushed deeper. Asriel blushed too – maybe he’d said something weird?

"But, um, remember the night we slept in here?" Asriel said, bouncing on his feet. "I slept on the floor because you didn't want to sleep in the same bed as me."

"Yeah," Chara said. "I remember. And your mother spent all night trying to heal me."

"She couldn't sleep either!" Asriel laughed. "She was so worried about you... did you know Dad spent all night trying to make a new bed too?"

Chara let go of his hand, and for a moment, Asriel felt a pang of worry, but then they walked over to the bed and sat down on it. They stared upwards at the fake sun.

"No," they said.

"He hadn't made a bed in a long time, so he couldn't figure it out at all," Asriel said, going to sit down next to them. "Mom had to take a break from healing you to give him a hand."

Chara kicked their feet, smiling. It was a gentle, tiny smile, and they were looking towards the floor, apparently in thought. Asriel was struck with a strange thought when he looked at them. When they smiled like that, he thought, it did something to him... it made his stomach light, it made the magic in him flow faster, it made him feel too happy to describe how happy he was.

And now he understood why. When they smiled like that, it wasn't just that he was happy that Chara was happy. It wasn’t that he was happy that Chara even could feel happy again after everything they'd apparently been through either. It was also that Chara, sitting next to him like this, the side of their face lit by the nearby lamp, their hair recently cut...

Was really pretty.

Really, _really_ pretty.

Like a star.

The realization made a bunch of feelings in him go off all at once, feelings he didn't really understand—his mouth felt dry, and he could feel himself starting to sweat, and there was a tingling in his gut like tiny monsters were flying around in it. His soul, somewhere deep within him, seemed to pulse with energy.

And then Chara reached over, took his hand again, and turned their head towards him.

"C-Chara..." he stammered, glad his fur did a good job hiding how warm his cheeks were getting.

"Hmm?"

"You... you look nice," he stuttered, immediately wanting to smack himself in the forehead. Chara blinked, their eyes wide, and then they looked away from him.

"If you say so," they said, the blush on their cheeks becoming a dark shade of red.

"Of course I do!" Asriel squeezed their hand more tightly. "I'd never lie to you, Chara."

Slowly, their eyes turned back to look at him, and they smiled a tiny smile. It was wavy and shifting, as if they were still figuring out how their smile was supposed to look. "Thanks, Ree."

And the nickname only made whatever was happening to Asriel right then even worse.

Something in him remembered his parents in Gerson's shop, the way they'd been toward each other, and that part of him kept saying _do something_ , _do something,_ but he couldn't seem to connect the two thoughts. He didn't understand what was happening to him at all, what he was feeling or why—all he knew was that he'd never felt like this around any of his friends before.

He leaned forward, almost by instinct, and Chara blinked at him, backing away, a deeper blush rising to their cheeks. But them backing away was enough—whatever Asriel had been feeling was gone, and Asriel backed away himself, coughing.

His mother knocked on the door and told them that the pie was ready.

Asriel was happy for the distraction, though he had to shake his head and take a deep breath before going outside the room, Chara in tow. He didn't want to be all blushy and weird when he left, after all—that'd just be embarrassing. But what he saw when he came out of the hallway and into the living room shook all the thoughts of embarrassment out of his mind.

There was a huge banner in the living room, stretching all the way from the kitchen to the opposite wall. His parents were standing under it, smiling. On the table (now with Chara's chair at one of the seats) was a pie with a single green candle sticking out of it.

The banner said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARA."

"We knew you could not remember when you were born," said Asriel's mother, taking a calendar out from under her arm and holding it out in front of herself. A date was circled. "But I recorded the date that you came here, and it has been one year since then. I thought this would do for a celebration."

Asriel was too stunned to speak at first. He looked toward Chara, who had frozen to the spot, their eyes wide and their mouth hanging open. He grinned.

"Whoa! Chara!" he finally shouted, unable to stop himself.

"Asriel," they managed to say, turning towards him. "Did you...?"

He shook his head. "No, I had no idea -"

"We knew he would not be able to keep a secret," Toriel interrupted, though she was smiling.

"- but this is so cool!"

"There is more," Asgore said. He lifted his paws, magical energy flowing through them, and in his hands, two small green boxes appeared, wrapped in yellow bows.

"And you got presents?" Asriel said as his father handed them to Chara, who took them very gingerly, as if afraid the gifts would shatter. "No fair! I would have got you something..."

Chara sat down on the ground, the presents in their hands, looking as if they couldn't comprehend what was happening. It was as if they thought they were dreaming. They looked up at Asriel's parents, who both nodded at them.

Chara began to take apart one of the presents, very carefully unwrapping the bow. Asriel watched closely, leaning forward to try to see, unable to bear how long it was taking, but soon, they slid a book out of the wrapping, thick and heavy.

"It's an encyclopedia of plants that grow down here in the underground," Asgore explained. "It's not quite the encyclopedia of surface flowers that I had hoped for... but I hope it will still interest you."

Chara didn't reply, they only blinked at it. They set it down on the ground gingerly. They started, just as carefully, to unwrap the bow on the next present, a much smaller package.

In a moment, they slid another book out of it. The book was worn, its spine in poor shape. Asriel didn't understand what it was supposed to be either—it had a picture of an older human woman standing in front of an upside-down bowl—until he read the title: _Kitchen._

"It was very difficult to find," his mother said. "I had to ask Sir Gerson to ask around... fortunately, he was able to retrieve me a copy. I know the condition is poor, but I hope it pleases you, my child."

The book started to shake, and Chara's hands started to shake with it, and then Chara themself was shaking too, and before any of them knew what was happening, tears started to fall on the book's front cover.

No one hesitated—Asriel threw his arms around them, and Toriel crouched down and threw her arms around them both, and Asgore crouched down and threw his arms around all three of them. Chara only started to cry even harder, sniffling and snorting as they seemed to try not to outright bawl. When Asriel looked at them, though, they had a lopsided smile on their face and were clutching the books to their chest.

"T-t-thank you," they stammered. "Thank you all so much."

"It is no issue at all, my child," said Toriel. "Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday, human."

"Happy birthday, Chara!"

* * *

He’d never seen Chara so happy as they were when they played that day. It was what he imagined a ray of sunlight must feel like after a long night – and he imagined one must be just as warm.

And, like sunlight, Chara beamed. Their smile seemed to split their face in half, their mouth a wavy line. Their eyes were soft, without a trace of the wide, menacing look they tended to wear. They kept laughing, but it wasn’t like when they’d laughed at... the butterscotch pie accident. Asriel loved their laughs, their real laughs – they were loud and out of control, like a little kid.

Until Toriel walked out of the room and returned with an old camcorder from her bedroom.

The moment Chara crossed eyes with it, before she’d even taken the lens cap off, everything changed. Their shoulders became stiff. Their smiling expression snapped into something forced. And then they ran, bolting behind Toriel’s chair as if to take cover from the camera.

 _Oh no,_ thought Asriel.

“Oh dear,” said Toriel.

Asriel made for the chair, nearly tripping over his own feet. When he reached the other side and saw Chara, they looked familiar – sitting on their knees, curled up into a ball, their hands in their hair. Asriel could hear them breathing, in and out, really fast.

“Chara?” he asked quietly, reaching out for them. They whipped around to look at him, their expression in that old, familiar smile. Asriel winced. “It’s just Mom’s old camera...”

“No,” they said.

“No?”

“No cameras,” they said. “No videos. No pictures.”

Asriel frowned. “Not even just one? It’s your birthday, Chara!”

“I said _no.”_

Asriel sighed, but he peeked around the corner and looked at his parents. His mom and dad both looked at him, clearly concerned, but he shook his head at them.

His mom seemed to understand. “Very well. I will go and put it away.”

“My mom says she’ll put it away, Chara,” he said to them, a little impatiently. He knew Chara pretty well by now, but he still didn’t understand why Chara was getting like this – it was just a camera. His mom had used to record him, like, all the time. He had so many embarrassing baby pictures! “Are you gonna come out now?”

Chara shook their head.

“She’s not gonna trick you, Chara,” he said, looking back towards his parents. His mom was gone, probably back to her room, like she’d said. “Promise!”

Chara still didn’t move. He crouched down next to them and held out his paw towards them. They looked at it for a moment before, carefully, they took it in their hand. He squeezed it.

“I got an idea!” he said. “Why don’t we go explore outside? I bet there’s all kinds of flowers and stuff for you to find!”

Without saying anything, Chara nodded. Asriel stood up, still holding onto their hand, and Chara followed him as he started to walk towards the front door. They continued staring out at the hallway, as if they were afraid his mother was going to come back any second with the camera still in her hand.

“Hey, Dad?” he said, without looking his direction.

“Yes?”

“Tell Mom we’re going for a little walk, OK? We’ll be right back!”

* * *

Of course, Asriel only had one place he wanted to see—it didn't seem like any other one made sense—and that was the place where Chara had fallen in the first place. He knew his father visited it sometimes, but he hadn't seen it since that day. He’d been wanting to see it again—it seemed more important than ever now.

Asriel lead them through Home, hand in hand. He held their hand through the old puzzles, the old traps. Chara didn't even hesitate to let him lead them over the room of giant spikes, the way they'd frozen up the first time his parents had lead them through it.

When they at last arrived at the dimly-lit place where the hole was, the furthest any monster had ever traveled into the underground, everything there already seemed so much smaller. Even the giant, vine-covered pillars stretching up, up, up, towards the surface, didn't seem quite as tall as before. He'd seen this room many, many times, and it seemed to get smaller every single one.

Chara, though, curled into themselves, rubbing their arm with their free hand. They were staring up at the hole, and couldn't seem to stop staring at it. When they were both standing directly under it, Chara stopped moving completely. Asriel smiled at them, as gently as he could, but they didn’t respond.

“Why are we here?” Chara said, without looking at him.

Asriel blinked. “Huh?”

 _Now_ Chara looked at him, their mouth curled into a frown. The light from the surface was all around them, lighting them from behind, but it wasn’t as bright as their eyes. Asriel swallowed.

“Why did we come back here? I... don’t wish to be here.”

Asriel felt a realization come over him. This place meant very different things for him than it meant for Chara. For Chara, it was where they’d...

He didn’t want to think about it very much.

“O-oh, I’m sorry, Chara!” he said quickly, stepping closer to them. He rubbed their hand gently. “I wasn’t thinking...”

Chara turned their head away from him, not meeting his eyes. But they didn’t let go of his paw.

“But this place is nice!” he tried. “It’s... it’s really pretty!”

Chara didn’t look convinced.

“And... it’s where we first met, right?” Slowly, he reached out his other paw for their other hand, and they took it. He squeezed their hands tightly, their fingers interlocking. “You’ve... you’ve made me so happy, Chara. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend.”

Now Chara _really_ didn’t look convinced. They scoffed.

“I mean it, Chara!” he said. “All the times we played together... all the times we talked, like, the whole night... all the times you showed me the cool flowers you grew... all the books we read... I know this sounds kind of weird, but all that stuff makes me so, so happy.”

He could feel that feeling coming up in him again, that feeling that made a warmth rise up through his chest and to his cheeks. He looked down to the ground, as if looking away from them would hide what was on his face, but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“I’m... I’m really glad I met you, Chara.”

Asriel could feel their heartbeat in his palms. He was no expert on human heartbeats, but it seemed like it was going really fast. He looked at them again, to see if they were OK, and saw that their whole face was a deep shade of red.

“I... I...” they stammered. He didn’t get to hear Chara sound like they were at a loss for words very often. “I’m really glad I got to meet you too. Asriel.”

Asriel grinned. They glanced back at him, saw the smile on his face, and gave him a tiny one back before looking away again.

It was weird, to Asriel. When they smiled at him, when their eyes met, it was like time had stopped for a second. Like that little moment had actually lasted a really, really long time.

“Um, anyway,” Asriel said, taking his paws out of Chara’s hands and scratching the back of his head. “We, um, walked a long way, so is it OK if we just sit here a little bit?”

Chara nodded. “Just for a little while.”

Asriel sat down, on the bare patch of soil just underneath the beams of sunlight. He stared up at the hole, so high above them, that lead to the surface – just out of reach of him and every other monster.

He laid on his back and just looked at it for a moment. It was so bright, so much brighter than anything else in the Underground. It almost hurt to look at it. He had to bring his paw up to cover his eyes.

Chara sat down next to him, cross-legged.

“Hey, Chara?” he said.

“What?”

“What’s the surface like? Do you... miss it?”

“It’s a terrible place and I never want to return,” Chara replied, without hesitation. “You’d have to _pay me_ to go back there.”

Asriel giggled. “ _Pay_ you? That’s silly.”

He looked towards Chara, but Chara just stared straight ahead, so he looked back at the sunlight. The sun—the real sun – felt so warm on his fur.

He scratched his cheek. “Is it really that bad? There’s sunlight, and flowers, and stars – real stars! And, what’s that word... weather! There’s real weather too! That sounds really cool! Don’t you miss it at all?”

“Not even remotely.”

Asriel couldn’t imagine why Chara hated the surface. The idea was so alien to him – he’d spent his whole life thinking about the surface and the promises it held, the beauty and freedom and hope.

Every monster did. To think it wasn’t all that big a deal was... kind of sad.

“Aww,” he said, because he couldn’t really express all those feelings in words. “That sucks.”

“Your mom doesn’t like it when you say ‘sucks.’”

“Charaaaaa,” Asriel whined. “Not you too!”

Chara let out a soft, breathy laugh. They looked over towards him, smiling.

“You know what I say?” they said. Asriel looked towards them eagerly, his ears raised.

“What, Chara?”

“To _hell_ with that,” they said, swinging their head back. “Cuss as much as you want.”

Asriel grinned.

By the time they went back home, Chara had taught him eight new swears.

* * *

They were laughing when they came back to Home, laughing so hard they had to stop and take a break under the red tree in front of the house. They collapsed onto their backs into the pile of red leaves, sending them flying everywhere.

And, as they laughed their heads off, Chara throwing leaves onto his face while he tossed some back at their head, Asriel realized something.

He realized he was something more than friends with Chara. Something more than best friends, even.

He still didn’t know what to call what he was feeling. But he knew he didn’t want to ever, ever leave Chara’s side. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with them beside him, like his father and his mother. He didn’t just want to help the monsters together, like he’d used to. He just wanted them to _be there,_ always, even when he had his own children and started to get older himself. Even as whatever happened to humans when they got older happened to them.

He wanted to be best friends with them forever.

Yeah, he thought, as he stared into Chara’s eyes. _That_ was what he wanted.

"Hey, Chara?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you... make me a promise?" he said, sitting up.

Chara didn't seem bothered or confused. They only sat up and shrugged. "Sure. What is it?"

He could feel himself blushing, as usual—he hoped Chara wouldn't think it was too weird.

"Promise..." he said. "Promise me we'll be best friends forever."

Chara blinked. "Forever?"

Asriel nodded. "Forever and ever."

Chara frowned, looking away from him. There was a few seconds of silence—Asriel was sure they'd say "no" or "that's stupid" or something like that.

"Alright," they said. They leaned their head forward. Asriel repeated the gesture, bumping his forehead against theirs. "Best friends forever."

"Best friends forever," Asriel repeated.

They sat back. Asriel laughed, relieved, and Chara laughed too.

"Does that mean you're not my royal guard anymore?" they said, smiling.

Asriel laughed harder, grinning. "No way! I'll be your royal guard forever too."

* * *

 

" _A lighthouse in the distance_

_To the two of us in the night_

_The spinning light looks like_

_Sunshine through the branches of trees."_

"Your singing is really pretty, Chara," Asriel said, nuzzling against Chara's side and yawning. Chara yawned too, setting their book down on Asriel's old bed.

"Are you going to sleep?" Asriel asked, blinking away the tiredness in his eyes.

"In high spirits, we sang that part again, together, at the top of our lungs," Chara continued, without looking at the book, and Asriel grinned.

" _A lighthouse in the distance,"_ Chara yelled, sing-song. Asriel yelled with them, not remembering the lyrics but doing his best to follow along, off-sync and off-key. " _To the two of us in the night/The spinning light looks like/Sunshine through the branches of trees!"_

With that, Chara flopped backwards onto the blankets, staring at the ceiling. Asriel flopped back too, laying at their side, and looked at them. He felt that funny feeling in his soul that he felt every time he looked at them – the “best friends forever” feeling.

"Good night, Asriel," they said.

"Good night, Chara."

* * *

On the way back through Waterfall, Chara had seemed to be in better spirits than ever. To Asriel's surprise, it was them that had let go of his hand first. They had tapped him on the shoulder and said "you're it!" before running off down Waterfall's winding paths. Asriel, grinning, had given chase.

"Will they be alright?" he'd heard his mother say as he ran away.

"Don't worry, Tori," he'd heard his father reply. "There's nothing dangerous down here—let the children have their fun."

He'd chased them until they found a room with a ceiling covered in sparkling stones. When he tapped them on the shoulder, they didn't even seem to notice—they only stared upwards.

"What's this?" they said.

"What's this?" whispered an Echo Flower. Chara backed away from it.

"Oh, this is the wishing room! My dad told me about this," Asriel explained, as another Echo Flower repeated his every word. "He said that... a long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky. If you hoped with all your heart, your wish would come true."

Asriel sighed. It was weird to feel nostalgic for a time so long before his, but he was reminded of seeing the moon and stars through the barrier—so far away, blurred by the barrier's walls into white splotches. He had spent a lot of time, ever since he was little, wondering what the real stars looked like.

"Now, all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling," he said, frowning up at them.

"Now, all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling," an Echo Flower whispered to itself, and then another nearby repeated it too, and then another.

"I don't like this place," said Chara, and Asriel nodded. "Let's go."

He followed Chara, silently, as they continued walking through Waterfall, across the long, winding bridge that lead the way towards Gerson's shop. Now and then, as they walked, they stopped to admire the rocks sparkling against the dark black ground, the strange plants that seemed to grow in every corner.

Instead of heading towards Gerson's shop, they turned suddenly, over a narrow bridge that lead towards an almost glowing river of bright blue water. Chara stared at the water with some interest, then kept walking. Asriel followed behind them closely, ready to jump after them if they tripped and fell in.

"So? Don't you have any wishes to make?" they said.

Asriel stopped. He knew immediately what he wanted to say, but he looked towards the ground anyway, shuffling his feet.

"...hmm... just one," he said, walking to catch up to them. "But... it's kind of stupid."

Chara turned towards them, frowning.

"Don't say that!" they said. "I promise I won't laugh."

But Asriel couldn't finish the thought. Monsters wished for freedom – they wished with all their hearts and souls for it. They wanted their homes back. They wanted to live on the surface with their friends, their families. They didn’t want to be trapped in the Underground for the rest of their lives. In comparison to something big like that, his wish seemed... silly.

So Chara turned back around, putting their hands in their pockets and sulking. Asriel followed them as they walked, and walked, and walked, through every nook and cranny of Waterfall. Asriel kept turning around to look behind him, wondering where his parents were, but there was no sign of them—he'd been through Waterfall many times, but he still felt afraid the two of them might get lost.

Eventually, they walked right into a bucket, filled with umbrellas.

"Oh, we should take one of these," Asriel said. "It gets wet over here—you don't want to get sick and stuff again."

Chara nodded, taking an umbrella, and Asriel got under it and followed closely as they walked through a hallway filled with puddles. Water dripped from the spikes on the cave ceiling, the ones Asriel never could remember the name of. Chara stopped to look at their reflection in a puddle, and Asriel looked too and saw that, from this angle, he couldn't see Chara's expression in it—the cave was too dark to make it out.

Chara jumped into the puddle, splashing his fur with water.

"H-hey! No fair!" he shouted, but he was laughing, and he jumped into the puddle too, splashing Chara's outermost sweater. To his surprise, Chara only started running away, and he worried for a second that he had done the wrong thing... but then they turned around, running right back toward him, and leaped at it. Asriel had just enough time to cover his face before an entire puddle's worth of water covered him from head to toe.

Asriel started to laugh even harder, and Chara grinned and laughed with him, a high-pitched giggle that he rarely got to hear. Asriel ducked down, grabbed some water in his paws, and threw it at them. Their giggling got worse as they ducked away, covering their head with the umbrella before reaching down and splashing water at him with their free hand.

He couldn't tell how long they kept doing that for, how long it was until the two of them were shaking their whole bodies to get the water off, making new puddles on the cave floor. Before he knew it, the two of them were walking further into Waterfall, hand-in-hand. They stood together under the umbrella, plowing right through the puddles on the ground.

Soon, they came to Asriel's favorite place in the entire underground—the place his father had taken him to once, to show off the majesty of the Kingdom of Monsters, what his role as prince represented. It was a place he'd planned to share with Chara, some day, on a quiet night alone... this was a good a time as any, he guessed.

It was an opening in Waterfall's cave walls, one that seemed to stretch on forever and ever, so high and so far you almost forgot that they were underground at all. If the Wishing Room was the stars, this room was the sky – so infinite it’d be scary, if it wasn’t for the ground under your feet.

Far, far in the distance was New Home, the castle, looming over everything. Chara stopped walking to stare at it.

"It's beautiful, isn't it, Chara?" he said.

Chara continued to stare. "Yes. It is."

"Whenever I look at it, I almost want to stay down here," Asriel continued, glancing over at them. "Doesn't it make you feel the same way?"

Chara froze, looking away from the castle and frowning. Asriel felt silly for asking—he couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking now. When he came here, sometimes, he thought about his father telling him he was the prince – he thought about everything it’d meant. Everything he had to do.

Was Chara thinking the same kind of things? His father had called them “the hope of humans and monsters”—that was kind of the same.

"I told you before. I don't want to go back," Chara said, staring back at the castle and squeezing his paw.

Asriel wasn't surprised—he understood how they felt by now, even if he didn't know the exact reasons why. All he needed to know was that they were happy here, not there.

"Not without you."

But that made the magic in Asriel's body seem to stop, just for a second. The whole world seemed to stop, as if time itself had been frozen, until Chara looked away from the castle towards him. The moment their eyes met his, his throat felt dry. Words seemed to leave him completely.

Without warning, Chara turned around and started to walk away.

"Let's go," they said. They didn't say anything else, but their hand squeezed his paw tighter, even tighter than before, as if they were afraid that if they let go, they'd never be able to hold it again.

But Asriel didn't start to walk with them. It seemed to surprise Chara - when they couldn't walk any further, they turned around, raising their eyebrows at him. They tugged on his paw, as if to say "hurry up," but something in Asriel wouldn't let him keep walking. Not until he said what was on his mind, what he was still almost too embarrassed to admit.

"Hmm..." he said, quietly. "If I say my wish... you promise you won't laugh at me?"

An Echo Flower, deep in another part of the cave, repeated what Asriel had said. They didn't seem to notice it.

Asriel didn't know why, but Chara's face was a deep, deep shade of red, and their eyes were wide and fearful.

"Of course I won't laugh at you!" they said quickly.

Asriel swallowed. His wish didn't seem so stupid now, he thought, after what they'd said... it seemed like the only wish he could ever make.

"Someday, I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under." He swung his free arm out towards the cave walls, back out towards the castle far away, the sparkling stones in the underground's only night sky. "Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around..."

Chara followed his arm, then turned back towards him. He glanced away, unable to look them directly in the eyes.

"That's my wish."

And Chara laughed, a sharp, short laugh, a bark. Asriel clenched his paws.

"Hey!" he shouted. From far away, an Echo Flower yelled it back. "You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"Sorry, it's just funny," Chara said, looking away themself, making it so that Asriel couldn't see their expression anymore. "That's my wish too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always to my friends Will and [Light](https://archiveofourown.org/users/light_rises/pseuds/light_rises</a) for their extensive help betaing this fic!


	4. I Never Asked For The Spools To Unspin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asriel has a dream, The Great Pie Theft is go, a holiday is celebrated, a kiss occurs... and a question gets asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Your heartbeat is pulsing  
>  at night in your chest  
> It's gold and it's glowing  
> with all the life you have left_
> 
> \- Magnolia, The Hush Sound

Asriel was in his bed, and everything was bigger. Much bigger – his bed, which had started to seem a little _too_ small lately, now made him feel tiny.

But that wasn’t all that was different, he thought as he looked around. His mobile, the one with the stars and the moon and the planets, was spinning above him. There was only one bed in the bedroom, not two. But, strangely, that didn’t worry at him at all. He didn’t feel like something, or someone, was missing, even though he knew he _should_ have felt that.

Standing above him, hovering over the side of the bed, was his mother. She seemed bigger too.

She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. He giggled, in spite of himself, but it was... kind of weird. She hadn’t done that in a long time. Not since he had gotten older and more grown up and he’d asked her to stop doing that.

“Mommmmmm,” he complained, but she didn’t say anything. She only smiled.

From off the floor, she picked up a toy. It was a stuffed boss monster, with big floppy ears and huge black button eyes. She held it out to him and he reached for it, gratefully, but she stopped just before he could touch it.

And she leaned over, until she was just above his head, and started to sing. It was in a soft, soothing tone, barely above a whisper. Her voice was nothing less than angelic, beautiful beyond words. As she sang, she shook the stuffed monster back and forth, as if it was singing.

“ _A cotton heart_

_And a button eye_

_You are the apple_

_Of my eye.”_

She placed the boss monster in his hands and gave him a poke on the nose. He laughed, batting her hands away, and she let out a soft chuckle.

“Good night, dearest one,” she said.

He yawned.

“G’night, mama.”

* * *

“Ree... Ree...” moaned a voice.

Asriel blinked awake, finding himself back in his real room again, under a mobileless ceiling and in one of two beds. His mother was nowhere to be seen.

He rubbed at his eyes and turned around. Chara was laying next to him, their arms no longer wrapped around his waist. Their hands were in their hair instead, pulling on it – there was brown hair laying on the blanket, around their head. They were shaking, like it was much colder in the room than it really was.

“Ree... Ree... please... anyone...” they continued to moan. They sounded scared, and what they were saying, what they were doing... it was enough to send a jolt of panic through Asriel’s body.

Without a second thought, he grabbed their shoulder and started to shake them.

“Chara! Chara, wake up!” he whispered.

Suddenly, Chara’s bright red eyes shot open. Their pupils darted around the room before looking straight at Asriel. When they saw him, Chara let out a deep, relieved sigh.

“Bad dream?” Asriel asked, smiling at them.

“Yes.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“No.”

Asriel nodded. It wasn’t the first time they’d had bad dreams, and he knew better than to pry. “OK. Want me to get you some water?”

“Please.”

Asriel hopped out of bed and went to the kitchen to fetch some. By the time he’d returned, Chara was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the pile of hair on the blanket. They rubbed their arm.

“Can’t sleep, Chara?”

 _That’s alright, I couldn’t either,_ he thought automatically. He wasn’t sure he would be able to sleep, if he was being honest. Not while Chara was like this.

Chara shook their head. He handed them the water and they swallowed it all in one long gulp.

He wished he could help. But he didn’t know what to do for them. If they wouldn’t talk about their dream they had, they were just going to think about it all night... he knew from all the bad dreams he’d had. And all the times he’d run off to his dad to talk about them.

Suddenly, though, Asriel had an idea. That dream he’d had...

“Wait, I got it!” he said, eyes widening. “When I was a little kid -”

“You _are_ a little kid.”

Asriel stuck his tongue out. “Well, so are you! Um, I think.” He shook his head. “Anyway, my mom used to do something for me when I couldn’t sleep. You want to try it?”

Chara stared at him, eyes narrowed. “What?”

“A lullaby! My mom used to sing it to me, like, every night! It always made me feel better. Your mom sang you lullabies, right?”

Chara laughed sharply.

“Like hell.”

“Oh," said Asriel, his ears drooping. "Well, it’s worth a shot, right?”

Chara shrugged, rolling their eyes. “I guess.”

Asriel grinned. “Great! Trust me, this will work!”

He ran over to the other side of his bed and picked up Chara’s stuffed boss monster, the one that they kept next to his own. Running back over in front of them, he lifted it up in front of his face.

“Ready?”

“This is idiotic.”

Asriel blushed, glad Chara couldn’t see him. But he wasn’t going to stop that easily – he was sure it would work! It always worked for him!

He made an _ahem-hem-hem_ kind of noise.

“ _A cotton heart_

_And a button eye_

_You are the apple_

_Of my eye."_

As he sang, he shook the boss monster back and forth, like it was singing.

Chara laughed.

"Asriel."

Asriel poked his head out from under the boss monster.

"Yeah?" he said, dreading what they were going to say next.

"That was the dumbest thing I've ever heard," they said. "You can't rhyme 'eye' with 'eye.'"

Asriel's ears drooped again. He felt kind of... what was that word? Humiliated?

Chara smiled softly. "But... thank you for trying."

"You're... you're welcome," he said, scratching the back of his head. His cheeks still felt warm. "Um, sorry it didn't work."

"No, no," Chara said quickly, raising their hands. "It... actually made me feel better."

Asriel grinned sheepishly. "Really?"

Chara set their empty glass of water on the floor and yawned. "Really."

Asriel's grin widened. He felt really relieved. "Great!"

"Let's just get back to sleep, OK?"

Asriel nodded and climbed back into the bed. Chara wrapped their arms around his waist while he tucked the boss monster plush against his chest, holding it there tightly.

"Good night, Asriel."

"Good night, Chara."

* * *

Crouched down behind the living room chair, Asriel clenched his fist. "OK. Operation: The Great Pie Theft is go."

"Dork," Chara said.

"Chara!" Asriel whispered. "You're supposed to say 'roger'!"

Chara rolled their eyes. "Roger."

Chara went first. Their job was to distract Toriel, but he wasn’t sure _how._ He got his answer when they walked into the kitchen… and started to bawl their eyes out.

“Ma’am! Ma’am!” he heard them whine.

“Oh my goodness!” he heard his mother’s voice say. “It is alright, my child. Tell me what is the matter.”

“Asriel pushed me!”

Asriel blanched. Great. Now he was going to be in trouble even if they _did_ steal the pie. But he wasn’t going to give up. Not now.

He started to tip-toe into the kitchen, peeking around the corner. He saw Chara rubbing at their eyes—it was _very_ convincing, Asriel had to admit. They were good.

“That doesn’t sound like him…” his mother said. “Did you two get in a fight?”

Asriel looked around. He saw the pie, behind Chara’s back. It’d be tricky to get by without her noticing, but if he just waited for the right chance…

“No! He just pushed me for _no reason_! I don’t understand! Did I… did I make him mad? Does he hate me?”

Chara started to cry even harder. Asriel watched as his mother got down on one knee and pulled them into a hug, closing her eyes… and Chara turned their head around to look at him, motioning with it towards the pie. Asriel didn’t need the hint—he knew it was time.

He quickly snuck behind Chara and reached for the pie. He noticed in the back of his mind that he was getting taller—he didn’t need to get on his tip-toes to reach the counter lately.

But, as he stared at the pie, a different thought went through his head.

It was… really delicious-looking. The dark brown crust, made even darker by the cinnamon inside. The perfect whipped cream topping. And the smell! The fresh, buttery smell, so familiar to him after so many years!

He drooled. He couldn’t stop himself—he stuck a claw into the still-hot pie. He only winced a little as he pulled it back out, bits of pie in his fur, and stuck his finger in his mouth.

It was _so good._ His mom had taken Chara’s advice to heart… it was _very_ cinnamon-y. But that just made it even better! His mom’s pies were absolutely perfect!

Before he even thought about it, he let slip a satisfied _mmm._

His mom whipped around. Chara did too.

When his mom saw him, standing there with pie still on his fingers, he grinned at her and waved his paw. Chara slapped their forehead, running their hand down their face.

“You idiot,” they said.

“Chara!” said Toriel, turning towards them. “I cannot believe it! You were… scheming against me as well?”

“Oops,” they said, smiling. “Run, Ree, run!”

Asriel didn’t need to be told twice. He snatched the pie off the counter immediately. It was still very hot, hot enough that it almost burned his paws—he blew on it as if it’d make any difference before running out of the room.

“Asriel!” he heard his mother shout. “My goodness! Get back here at once!”

But he was already making his way to his bedroom.

He was halfway down the hallway when he nearly crashed into his father, on his way out of his bedroom.

“Asriel,” he rumbled. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

He looked down at the pie in Asriel’s hands. “...And what are you doing with that pie?”

Asriel heard the approaching sound of heavy footsteps behind him. He glanced backwards—his mother was coming out of the kitchen, hiking up her robes so she wouldn't trip. Chara was behind her, making “hurry up!” motions with their hands. He turned back towards his father.

“I stole it!” he explained quickly. “Hurry, do something! I’ll give you some later, promise!”

Those words were the magic words. Without a second’s pause, his father walked past him, extending his arms out for a hug.

“Tori! I had the most wonderful day!”

“Oh, Gorey! This… this is not really an opportune time...”

“Nonsense! It is the perfect time.”

Grateful for the distraction, he ran into his bedroom, sighing as he made it through the door. He was going to be in _big_ trouble… but he looked down at the still-warm pie in his hands and didn’t regret it one bit.

He heard the doorknob rattle.

“Asriel, open up!” said Chara’s voice from the other side. “Don’t monopolize it!”

He set the pie down on his bed and opened the door. Chara burst through it, out of breath.

“You got it?” they said.

Asriel grinned. “Yeah!”

They didn’t hesitate to dig into it. By the time Toriel came through the door, a very guilty looking Asgore right behind her, they’d already eaten half of it with their bare hands, their faces and clothes covered in cinnamon crumbs.

* * *

“I can’t believe your mom grounded us,” sighed Chara, laying on Asriel’s bed. “Again.”

“Yeah…” sighed Asriel, laying next to them. His stomach hurt, but he felt oddly satisfied—both full and fulfilled. “It was worth it though.”

“Yeah,” Chara agreed. “Certainly.”

They laughed, a high-pitched giggle. “Your mom is scary.”

Asriel looked over at them, concerned. He was half-expecting something awful to happen, at the mention of mothers… for Chara to start laughing non-stop, or crying, or just for them to suddenly stop responding to him for a while.

“...What?” said Chara.

“Oh, nothing,” said Asriel. "It's just... my mom's really nice. You know?"

“She is. But she can be frightening sometimes.”

Asriel didn't really agree, but he wasn't going to argue with Chara. "I guess so."

* * *

A year ago, the first year he'd tried to celebrate the winter holidays with Chara, it'd been a complete disaster. They'd only been living in New Home for a couple of weeks by that point, and Chara was still... prickly.

He knew they could be, and his parents had warned him too. They'd gone and picked up presents for Chara - just in case - but Asgore had admitted he was unsure if they would be willing to celebrate with them, and Toriel had gently reminded Asriel not to be pushy about it. It _was_ hard for Asriel to imagine Chara leaving the house, when they never left their bed.

But he'd tried anyway. In spite of what his mother had said about not being pushy, he'd really, really tried. It'd just been a really bad idea.

The moment he'd woken up that morning, Chara was still in their own bed. He couldn’t tell if they were sleeping or not—they were buried so deeply under their blankets that he couldn’t see them at all.

But he rushed over anyway, shouting "Chara, Chara, it's Holly Day! Get up!"

Chara didn’t respond. Or budge.

"Chara! Santa probably got you presents! You're gonna miss out!"

Still nothing. He grabbed the blankets and gave them a tug, but something under them gripped them back like their whole life was depending on it.

"Chaaaaaaaaara," he whined, still tugging. "Commmmmme... onnnnnnnnn...."

With one more tug, the blankets chose that moment to give way, sending Asriel sprawling to the floor. By the time he sat up again, Chara was leaning over the side of their bed, still in the same worn-down clothes they'd been wearing since their very first day there.

Even though they were smiling from ear to ear, Asriel could tell what the hand they had held out towards him meant—"give me that back."

Asriel held it tightly.

"Come on, Chara!" he insisted. “You can't just... lay down all day! We got you presents, and Santa will be there, and everyone in Snowdin will be so happy to see you..."

With every word he said, Chara's eyes narrowed. The smile didn’t leave their face, but it started to twitch.

"Give. That. Back," Chara said, making Asriel flinch—he hadn't been used to their flat, high-pitched voice at that point, much less heard it sounding so... annoyed.

"Not until you come with us!"

"Fine.”

Asriel blinked. He wasn’t expecting that at all. "You will?"

They answered by giving the blanket a sharp tug, sending Asriel stumbling forward. He stopped inches from their face, their wide eyes boring holes in his. He could see their teeth, sharp as fangs, as they spoke.

"No. Christmas," they snarled. "Period. Do you get it?"

Asriel didn’t know what a Christmas was, but he felt the tears starting anyway. He nodded, letting go of the blankets. The moment he did, Chara threw them back over themself and pulled their pillow over their head.

* * *

It wasn’t until the next Holly Day that Asriel dared to mention it to them again. Their birthday had only been a few weeks ago, and the evidence of how much had changed over the past year was all around him—he only had to look at their nice clean pajamas, or the lack of circles under their eyes, or the way they were holding his hand and laying with him in the same bed.

He figured, maybe, this had changed too.

"Um," he said. "Chara..."

"Christmas is tomorrow. I know."

Asriel tilted his head.

“What’s a Christmas?”

Chara pinched the bridge of their nose. “The annual winter solstice event with Santa and the presents. The reappropiated pagan slash capitalist celebration.”

Asriel barely understood a word they were saying, but he understood “Santa” and “presents.”

“Yeah, Holly Day!”

“Whatever.”

“So… um, do you think... maybe... I mean, you don't have to if you don't _want_ to... that's OK too, it's just... uh..."

He saw Chara roll their eyes.

“Shush.”

He closed his mouth.

“I don’t celebrate Christmas. Or, uh.” Air quotes. “‘Holly Day’.”

Asriel’s ears drooped. He opened his mouth to say something, to tell them it was OK, that he didn’t mind. Even though, immature as it was, he really did.

But, after a pause, Chara gave a lazy half-shrug.

"I'll go," they continued. "Just... just once. And _onl_ _y_ once. OK?"

Asriel grinned. He felt more than relieved—he felt like he was outright going to explode. Chara! Joining him for Holly Day! Leaving the castle! He couldn't have asked for a better present than that.

"You will?!" he shouted. Chara pressed a finger over his snout.

"Yes. Now please stop yelling."

* * *

They didn't do much decorating at the house—it was tradition that the monsters all celebrated Holly Day together in Snowdin. But they did put up the little sock things on the fireplace, and those always got filled with little toys or candies. He liked those, and he knew Chara loved chocolate, so he was sure they'd love them too.

He just hadn't realized _how much._

Toriel always hand-knit their sock things—stockings or something—and she'd done the same for Chara. She'd knitted their stocking last year too, but well, they hadn't celebrated that year.

This time, though, she presented their stocking with a flourish. It was made mostly of green wool, but with a single yellow stripe in the center—it matched their sweater perfectly. Stitched into the top was a name—"CHARA."

And, the moment she handed it to them, something changed on Chara's face. They continued smiling their usual smile, so at first, Asriel couldn't tell that anything was wrong... but then he sawthe way their face was pinched, as if they were trying to hold back tears.

"Chara?!" Asriel said, pulling them into a hug, crushing them to his chest. "It's OK!"

He felt two pairs of larger arms wrap around him. His mother and his father were hugging them too, his father patting their back.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Chara said.

"There, there," said Asgore. "There is no need to apologize."

"Indeed, my child," said Toriel. "There is no shame in crying.”

He didn't know how long they stayed like that, just hugging Chara. The whole time, Asriel thought about them... about why they were crying. Crying over a little stocking like that? That was kind of weird.

Eventually, the three of them let go of Chara. Chara reached up and rubbed their eyes.

"I really am a crybaby," they muttered. But then they looked at Asriel, raising their eyebrows, and Asriel reached for his cheeks. He realized he'd started to cry too.

He laughed. "Not as much as me!"

Chara gave him a small smile. He took their hand and squeezed it as they put the stocking on the fireplace, over the magical fire, next to Asriel's own green and yellow stocking.

It was the first year there'd ever been four stockings there. And Asriel hoped with all he had that it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

Wearing four scarves and two layers of sweaters each, Asriel, Chara, and Asriel's parents took the River Person's boat to Snowdin.

It was a calmer trip than the last one. Nobody had thrown up, for one thing. The river person, wearing a bright red hood, had ho-ho-ho'd and sang something like a carol ("Silent night/All is bright/Won't I be your sleigh tonight"). Asriel was pretty sure they'd got the lyrics wrong, but he liked seeing them in the spirit of things.

They'd stopped at Gerson's shop on the way, but to everyone's surprise, it was closed.

"OFF EXPLORING!," said a sign on the door, with a drawing of a winking Gerson next to it. A note attached to it added, "Don't blame me if you're buying gifts late! Wa ha ha!"

They traveled onwards to Snowdin proper. Once they'd waved goodbye to the River Person, they started to walk the path to the houses and shops in the center of town.

That was when Asriel realized the obvious problem. The closer they got to town, the larger the crowds got... and the crowds were filled with kids, all wearing their striped sweaters. Adults might stare curiously as they passed, but kids didn't know to keep their distance from Chara. They were already starting to crowd around, to stare. Worse, some of those kids knew him, and they were starting to talk.

"Hiya Asriel~ Long time no see~"

"Azzy! Azzy! Where you been, man?!"

"Hey, hey, Mr. Prince! Get your butt out here sometime! I've got loads of cool games for us to play!"

Asriel held one of Chara's hands tightly, waving his free one at the crowd as the four of them walked past.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said. "I've been, um, really busy, and..."

He saw some of the eyes narrow. Others just followed his hand, staring at the strange creature behind him, their face hidden behind their scarf.

"Your new human friend, right?"

"Hey, I wanted to meet them too~ Say hi human friend~"

"That's no fair! Don't hog 'em to yourself!"

Sets of arms, legs, and mouths started to push between Asriel and Chara. Asriel screeched to a halt, feeling himself start to panic, but it was too late—he'd already lost his grip on their hand and was getting pushed further and further away. He pushed back against the huge crowds of kids and confused-looking parents surrounding Chara, but he could barely see them anymore... he could just barely make them out in the middle of the crowd, their eyes wide and frantic.

A dozen voices all spoke at once, trying to be heard over each other.

"What's your name~"

"Hey, hey! I'm..."

"Want to play tag later?! I've never played tag with..."

Asriel shoved his way back towards Chara, trying not to push any other kids over, but the crowd was getting larger, and Chara was getting harder and harder to see. When he managed to spot Chara, he could see that their hands were clenched tightly—he was sure something horrible was going to happen if he didn't do something fast.

Clenching his own paws, he stopped walking and took a deep, deep, deep breath.

"Children, children!" said his father's voice before he could make a sound. "This is no way to treat the future of humans and monsters. Please, give them some room."

The crowd went silent. They started to back away from Chara, who was standing in front of Asgore, trembling. Asriel could see their usual smile on their face, but he could also see their eyes, darting around at the crowd as if expecting someone to attack them.

Asriel let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Chara!" he shouted, jogging towards them.

The crowd parted out of the way to let him through as he waved his paw at them. When he spoke, their expression changed—they looked at him instead of the crowd, their eyes softened, and the smile half-hidden under their scarves started to look a little less forced.

When he reached them, he held out a paw. Gratefully, they took it in their hand, and he turned around and started to lead them towards the tree.

It wasn't really that much bigger than any of the other trees in Snowdin, but just like every year, it still seemed to tower over everything and everyone. It was covered from top to bottom in handmade ornaments, so many you could barely see any of the actual tree underneath them. Asriel smiled, remembering the past years when his parents and his friends had made their yearly ornaments and placed them on the tree.

The only one missing was, as per tradition, the star at the top. Placing that was his job, one he did proudly every year.

Surrounding the tree was a mountain of presents in various shapes, sizes, and colors. Some of them were bigger than him, while some of them were so small he could barely even see them. There were even more presents than ornaments—at least one for every monster in the Underground.

And in front of the tree... was Gerson. He was standing there, staring up at it, his back turned to them. There was something in his hands.

"Ah, Sir Gerson," said his father. Slowly, Gerson turned around, grinning up at him. "Here already?"

"Surprised to see me?" he laughed. Asriel could see what he was holding in his wrinkled green hands now—it was the star that went on top of the tree. It looked enormous, in Gerson's hands. It was bigger than his head. "Wa ha ha!"

"Why, yes. I didn't realize it was time for us to place that yet."

"Well," Gerson said, unsteadily making his way towards them. He held the star out in his shaking hands. To Asriel's surprise, he didn't hold out towards him. Instead, he was holding it out... towards Chara, standing behind him. "I figured it was a special occasion."

Everyone looked towards Chara, but Asriel was sure nobody was staring at them as much as he was. Chara was staring at the ornamental yellow star, made of glass, as if it was a real star—their smile was the same as always, but their eyes seemed to shine. He squeezed their hand as tightly as he could, but they only continued to stare straight at it, unmoving.

He saw his mother come up behind them and place a hand on their shoulder, but they didn't flinch away from her touch. They didn't respond to it at all.

"My child," she said calmly. "It is your choice. If you do not wish to place the star... then Asriel can do it instead. We will understand."

They looked up from the star long enough to glance out at the crowds of people staring out at them expectantly. Asriel wasn't dumb—he knew the pressure they must have been feeling, to do something they didn't want to do just because people were expecting you, hoping for you, to do it.

But, suddenly, he had an idea.

"Chara..." he said to them quietly, hoping nobody else could hear. Chara's eyes darted over to him. "Why don't we place it together? Me and you!"

Chara still looked unsure. They continued to look back and forth between the star, the crowd of monsters, and Asriel himself.

"It'd be really cool if you helped me put it on the tree, Chara," he said. "Since your name is a star too!"

Chara let out a small, breathy laugh.

"Alright," they whispered. "Together."

Asriel grinned at them. He turned back towards Gerson, who just smiled patiently.

"Me and Chara are gonna put it up there together!" Asriel announced.

"Together, eh?" said Gerson, seeming to consider this for a moment. Then he held the star out towards them—both of them. "That's a bit unusual, but I'll take it! Wa ha ha!"

Asriel took the star into his arms, supporting it against his chest. It was pretty big, but it didn't weigh much at all. Still, he didn't want to drop it—that'd happened once when he was little, after all. It had been really embarrassing!

He turned around and gently held it out towards Chara. With a huff, Chara repeated what Asriel had done—they took it into their arms, supporting it against their chest. Now the star was squished between their bodies, held up by two sets of sweater-clad arms.

Suddenly, a set of giant arms wrapped around them both.

"Alley-oop," said Asgore.

Asriel scream-giggled as he was lifted off the ground, the crowds and the trees and everything else rushing past him. Chara only screamed, which only made Asriel laugh even more.

With a few huge, heavy steps, his father walked towards the tree. He was one of the few monsters tall enough to reach the top, but even he had to raise his arms a bit for the two of them to reach the very point of the tree.

Chara was breathing fast. Asriel felt a jolt of worry—he hoped they weren't scared of heights.

"Just, um... think about me, OK?" Asriel tried. "It's just me and you, that's all! Nothing scary!"

Chara nodded slowly, their eyes shut tight. Asriel breathed a sigh of relief as his father stepped as close as he could to the tree, the highest branch now in arm's reach of Chara and Asriel.

"Ready, Chara?"

Chara opened one eye. They stared straight at him, but they nodded again.

"OK, together, on three! One..."

They lifted the star from between their chests.

"Two..."

They held it aloft.

"Three!"

Together, in one motion, they lifted it over the top of the tree. It took them a little effort to find out where the topmost branch was, or how to stick the plastic coil underneath the glass star onto it, but soon enough... the star was attached.

Asriel wasn't expecting anything to happen when they finished, but Chara was staring at it as if they were. They looked to Asriel.

"Do we plug it in?"

Asriel squinted at them. "Huh? Plug it in? No way! This is..."

Before he could explain any further, a low hum filled the air. Asriel looked eagerly towards the crowd as they all lifted their hands, feet, heads, or other limbs towards the star.

Above the monster's heads, lights started to take shape—mostly yellows, but also reds and greens.

From every direction, in rays, the lights shot out at the tree. The yellows shot towards the transparent glass star, and when the beams hit, an orb of bright, shining light started to form in its center. It grew, and grew, and grew, until nearly the entire star was filled with yellow light.

Asriel placed his hands on it and concentrated. It was warm to the touch, but not enough to burn. He focused on the magic inside him, on the image of past Holly Days, the image of a bright shining star at the top of the tree. He willed the magic to flow out of him and into the star, feeling it grow warmer and warmer beneath his paws. The hum was becoming louder.

He grinned at Chara, who was staring slack-jawed at the star.

"You too, Chara!" he said, grinning at them.

"Me?!" Chara shouted over the hum. "But I..."

_Can't do magic._

"I know! Come on, do it anyway!"

Chara slowly reached their hands out for it. As if it was going to burn them, they pulled them back for a moment—but then, their eyes shut tight, they lurched forward and slapped their hands against the star's surface.

He heard them breathe a sigh of relief.

"Now!" he said. The hum was almost deafening now, and the lights inside the star swirled beneath his paws, beneath their hands. "Remember that wish we made? In Waterfall? Think about that wish! And wish for it again, really, really hard!"

He paused.

"Oh, and make sure your eyes are closed!"

Chara nodded. He saw them squeezing their eyes shut tightly, and he did the same, focusing all his energy on his wish.

_I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under._

The glowing warmth beneath his hands almost started to hurt.

_Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around..._

The hum became a roar.

_That's my wish._

Then there was a bright, blinding flash in front of his eyelids, like what he imagined actual stars must look like up close. Even with his eyes shut as tightly as he could, all he could see was pure white.

After a moment, the white light faded, and he opened his eyes.

In front of him was the star, a bright shade of yellow. It was radiating light, filling every part of Snowdin, brighter than any lightbulb or mushroom or anything else could ever be. Beneath him, under the star, the glass ornaments glowed red and green, each filled with their own light. Yellow orbs speckled the surface of the tree, forming lines like sashes.

"We did it!" Asriel cheered, throwing his hands up towards the cave ceiling. The crowd burst into applause, cheers, and whoops.

As his father started to lower them back towards the floor, Asriel looked towards Chara. Chara looked... really tired, like they were ready to go back home and go back to bed. But they were smiling, a tired half-smile, and that was enough to make Asriel grin back at them.

He shot them a thumbs up. "Nice job, Chara!"

"Thanks, Ree."

* * *

Everyone sat around the tree, waiting, the presents unopened. The older monsters sat patiently, but the monsters Asriel's age and younger, the ones in striped shirts, couldn't keep still at all. And neither could Asriel himself—it was taking him everything he had not to bounce in place.

Next to him, Chara sat on the snow with their arms crossed.

"I am _way_ too old for this."

"Oh, come on, Chara, this is the best part!" Asriel said, nudging them with his elbow. "And, besides, I thought you didn't know how old you were. So there."

Chara stuck their tongue out at him.

"Har! Har! Har!" said a voice.

" _Har har har?"_ repeated Chara.

"Happy Holly Day!" said the voice. Then, just as Asriel expected, there was an explosion of smoke not too far from the tree... and from the smoke emerged a tremendous, jolly figure in a huge red suit, a big white beard on their chin. "Howdy, children! It's me, Santa the Claus!"

Asriel had always thought it was a little strange that, whatever a Claus was, Santa looked so much like a Boss Monster. And he always wondered where his dad went when Santa showed up. But he wasn't going to complain. He didn't want to find out what happened if you questioned _Santa._

Chara, though, started to laugh. A lot.

 _"Oh my god,_ Asriel," they said, between laughs. "He's your...?!"

"It's Santa! Duh!"

* * *

Once Santa had delivered all the presents, and left with a hearty "har har har," Asriel waited. He was patient enough to wait until his dad got back, but no more than that—once he'd returned and sat down among the crowd of monsters, Toriel started to hand out the presents, and Asriel got right to ripping into them.

His presents from Santa and his parents were the same every year, so he didn't know why he got so excited. He always just hoped it'd be something other than clothes. New toys maybe. New books, new crayons—he got those all year, but those would be nicer than more sweaters.

But, as he held up another hand-knit sweater (purple with yellow stripes) from the now-ruined gift box, he couldn't help but let out a moan of disappointment.

"Awwww, another one?"

"Clothes are sensible, dearest one," Toriel said. "If you continue to tear holes in yours, you will be happy to see you have spares."

She grabbed another box from the pile, white with red ribbon like all the others, and handed it to Chara. It was a tiny box, not even as large as her paw.

"This one is for you, my child," she said. "It is from Asgore and I... we hope you will like it."

Chara stared at it. They looked back up from it towards her.

"Are you... sure?"

Toriel chuckled. "Of course I am sure. Look, we even wrote 'Chara' on it for you."

Asriel squinted at it. Indeed, there was a little tag on it that said "For Chara."

Gently, Chara took it from her and set it down in front of themself. Asriel bounced impatiently, scooting closer to them as they slowly, slowly, _slowly_ unraveled the ribbon wrapped around the box. He was hovering over their shoulder by the time they were done, but Chara didn't seem to even notice.

Asriel had only a few guesses as to what could be in such a small box. Knitting needles? A little shovel? A package of seeds? Not things he'd be excited about, but definitely things he'd get for Chara, if he could.

What he never, ever would have guessed was a knife. It was only an inch or two long and was in a dark brown sheath, but it was obvious what it was. After all, it was too small to be a sword or anything like that, and he had even less of an idea as to why his parents would get Chara one of those.

As if to be sure, Chara picked the sheath out of the box and held it up. They carefully slid the object out of its hiding place, leaving no doubt as to what it was: not just a knife, but some kind of dagger. It was decorated kind of weirdly—the wooden handle was a dark red, and there were circles etched into its silver blade. Etched alongside the circles was a ruler.

The blade's edge gleamed in the light of the tree. Asriel could see Chara's eyes, wide and bright red, reflected in it.

Chara didn't say anything, but the knife trembled in their hands. They didn't _need_ to say anything. They were probably thinking the same thing he was. That they hadn't had a real knife in the house in almost a year, and now his parents were just... giving them one?

"It is for cutting weeds," Toriel explained. “And other such tasks.”

"For gardening, in other words," Asgore continued. "We discussed it together, and we both agreed that it'd please you if you could better take care of the flowers under your care."

"Asriel," Toriel said. Her voice was calm, but that just made Asriel more attentive. He sat stock still as she spoke. "We are... trusting you with this, as well. Please watch them closely."

Asriel nodded rapidly. He understood exactly what she meant.

"I will, Mom," he said.

She nodded back, before looking away, coughing awkwardly. "Ah, well, good. Then... I hope this pleases you, my child."

Asriel was half-expecting Chara to jump up and hug her, but then he figured that wouldn't be a very Chara thing for them to do. Instead, they merely continued to stare at the knife.

"Thank you," they said quietly.

"Ah, do not thank me," she said, smiling. She reached over and patted Asgore's knee. "It was Gorey's idea."

Her eyes widened.

"Oh, yes, of course! I nearly forgot," she said, reaching back towards the pile of presents. She took out a stocky white box, with red wrapping, and handed it to Asgore.

That wasn't weird. His dad got a lot of presents. And letters, especially love letters (which was gross - he was married!).

"It is from Chara," she said, although the note attached had nothing next to the “FROM.”

"Oh my," Asgore chuckled, holding the gift box in his hands. "This is a surprise."

"What is it?!" Asriel shouted, but his father held up a hand.

"Patience, patience."

Asriel looked towards Chara, as if Chara would give him any clues. He didn't even realize Chara had got any presents for anybody! Even _he_ hadn't got any presents from them!

But Chara just looked... weird. Their face was a deep shade of red, and they had their hands in their lap and were drumming their fingers on their pants legs. They weren't looking towards Asgore, but towards the ground.

There was a soft crunch as his father slowly unwrapped the paper, pulling the ribbon off it and unfolding it. Asriel scooted closer, trying to get a peek, but all he could see was that it was something big and pink.

Asgore pulled the gift out of the wrapping, and Asriel finally saw... that it was a plain, simple sweater. It was a very bright shade of pink, and it was enormous, as it had to be to fit his father. But, other than that, it was totally normal, and that left him almost as confused as he was about the knife.

His father unfurled it and gasped. He lifted a paw to his chest, tears forming in his eyes, and Asriel didn't understand why until he proudly turned it around and showed it to the rest of them.

Knitted into the front of the sweater, in huge white letters but rather bad handwriting, were the words:

"MR. DAD GUY"

And then Asriel understood. The thing Chara had been knitting, after their botched butterscotch pie. This was what they had been doing... this was why.

"You..." Asgore said to them, his voice quaking. "You knitted this... for me?"

Chara nodded slowly, without looking up at him.

"I..." they said, under their breath. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, child, why would you apologize for this?" he said. He pulled the sweater on over his other sweaters, got to his feet, and started to walk over to them. For a moment, Chara looked frightened, their eyes growing wide again, their forced smile coming back to their face.

But Asgore merely crouched in front of them and held out his arms for a hug.

"Do not be afraid," he said. "I wish only to thank you."

With a glance to their left and right, as if afraid people were staring, Chara unsteadily walked forward. Carefully, as carefully as Asriel had ever hugged Chara himself, Asgore took them into his arms, pulling them against his chest. Asriel watched as he gently patted their back.

"I'm sorry," they repeated, their voice muffled.

"There, there," he said. "Do not apologize."

He broke away from the hug to smile softly at Chara.

"Thank you for this gift," he said. "I will treasure it always."

"You're... you're welcome. Um, sir."

"I believe I have a gift for you as well. For you and for Asriel."

Asriel blinked.

"Tori?" his father said. On cue, Asriel's mother reached behind herself and took two red and white boxes from the pile—small ones, like the one that had held Chara's knife. She handed one box to Asriel. It didn't weigh very much. He shook it and heard something jangling, but he couldn't tell what it might be.

She then handed the other box to Chara.

"Will you take it, my child?"

Chara nodded and took it from her. Instead of tearing into it right away, Asriel patted the snow next to him and waited for Chara to take a seat at his side.

"Ready, Chara?" he said.

"On three?"

"Yeah! One... two..."

He grabbed onto the wrapping.

"Three!"

Asriel didn't hesitate for a second. He pulled the wrapping apart like it was going to catch fire if he didn't, completely shredding it in seconds. Chara, maybe encouraged by him, started tearing at theirs as well, sending piles of white sheets of paper and red ribbon to the ground.

In both boxes were two glass cases. Inside the cases, glinting in the light, were two shining golden lockets on golden chains. They were shaped like the traditional image of a monster's SOUL—what humans called a 'heart.' The Delta Rune was engraved onto the front of them both.

The only difference between them was that Chara's was upside-down, the pointed end of the SOUL facing the ground. His was right-side up, the point facing him.

Asriel barely noticed the difference. He only gaped at the beautiful, shimmering golden necklace in front of him. Where it seemed to have weighed so little before, now it felt heavy in his paw.

He looked toward Chara. Chara was clenching theirs tightly, their hand trembling.

"These lockets are a testament to your friendship," Asgore explained. "They have been engraved with the Delta Rune because they are a symbol of the prophecy—of the hopes and dreams of both monster- and humankind, which the two of you represent."

"But our hope," Toriel continued, "is that, in the form of these lockets, you will treasure each other's memory for the rest of your lives. That you will always hold this friendship near and dear to your hearts."

The hopes and dreams of humans and monsters, Asriel thought. No. That didn't feel right to Asriel. He liked his mother's explanation better—it was a symbol of their friendship. Their memories.

"Chara," he said solemnly. Chara looked up at him, startled. "We should trade them!"

Chara raised their eyebrows. "What?"

He held out his locket towards Chara's, waving it in their face. "You heard me! We should trade them! That way, it's like you're carrying my SOUL with you, and I'm carrying yours with me! Always!"

Chara stared at the golden locket inches from their nose. They seemed to consider it, letting out a breath they'd been holding.

"Alright. That's a good idea."

And they held out their locket, the one with the point facing downwards, towards Asriel. Gently, so as not to drop it, he took it from their hands and pulled the chain over his neck. He then handed his locket to Chara, who put theirs around their own neck.

Chara smiled, a small, real smile, as the locket rested against their chest. They reached up and touched it.

"Feels warm," they said.

Asriel giggled. "That's weird, Chara."

* * *

The entire ride back to Snowdin, Chara continued touching their locket, holding it in their hands. Asriel didn't know why, not exactly, but some part of him understood. The locket felt heavy around his neck, like a big golden stone pulling him to the ground. It felt capital-i Important. It was hard for him not to touch it too, to feel the shape of it in his paw.

With a _click,_ Chara opened theirs.

And a song began to play.

Asriel was startled. It somehow hadn't occurred to him that the locket even could be opened, even though it was a locket.

The song was high-pitched, but it was hard to place what it sounded like. It was a little cheerful, with a sense of forward motion like a parade, but also a little melancholy. It was playing from a silver music box, a mass of gears and screws that took up all the space inside the locket, and it sounded harsh and tinny and slightly out of tune.

Chara didn’t seem surprised by the song at all. They merely stared at it, letting the song fill the quiet Waterfall air.

When the music finally came to a stop, Chara closed the locket again and hugged it to their chest, squeezing it tightly. Asriel, without even thinking about it, did the same.

“Our song,” said Chara. Asriel couldn’t read their expression, but their voice was quiet, a whisper.

 _Our song,_ Asriel thought, and the locket around his neck seemed to feel even heavier.

* * *

That night, Chara took their knife to bed.

Asriel watched them like a Loox, remembering what his mother had said—"please watch them closely." Not that he needed her to tell him. Not at all.

Chara, though, just played with it. They took to the knife like any other toy—they stood in the middle of the bedroom and swung it around, Asriel keeping as far away from them as possible. They threw it over their head and caught it in their other hand. They spun it between their fingers. All the while, Chara watched him rather smugly, as if to see if he was impressed.

Which, well, he was. Just a little bit.

"Where'd you learn all that stuff?" he asked them eventually.

"Oh, uh," Chara replied, suddenly stopping. Their smile got a little smaller. "Around."

"Did somebody teach you?" Asriel asked. He tried to imagine it in his head—some older, taller Chara-like human ruffling Chara's hair as they taught Chara the Secret Ways Of The Knife. It sounded like fun.

But Chara shook their head.

"No," they said. "Well, not exactly. I studied YouTube videos."

Asriel squinted. "What's a You... Tube?"

"Forget it," Chara said, sighing. They went back over to the bed and flopped backwards onto it. "It'd take too long to explain."

For a moment, they just continued staring at their knife. The blade glinted in the lamplight.

Asriel scooted closer to them, watching them. Even after having watched Chara play with it, the knife still seemed dangerous to him. He was afraid that if he stopped looking at Chara for one second, they'd do... something bad.

"I can't believe they let me have this thing," Chara said, under their breath.

Asriel couldn't believe it either. But he merely stared at it, afraid he'd say the wrong thing if he opened his mouth. Afraid he'd bring up bad memories.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Chara said suddenly, without looking away from the knife. "You're worried I'll hurt myself."

Asriel gulped. He opened his mouth to protest, but Chara continued. They stared straight at him.

"On purpose."

Now the memories did return to him, whether he'd asked for them or not—the sound of Chara snarling. The blanket, wrapped around Chara's arm. The fork.

Asriel lifted his paw to his chest, trying to calm his nerves.

"...Y-yeah," he admitted.

"I won't," Chara said, looking back towards the knife. They turned it around in their hands, examining it. "Because then they'd take my knife away."

They were so matter-of-fact about it, Asriel thought. They hadn't said anything like "because I don't want to" either... just that they'd get punished. That didn't make him feel any better.

"Besides, it's too dull anyway," they said. "It wouldn't work. Want to see?"

In a split second, they'd already rolled up their sleeve. Asriel could see the criss-cross of old scars on their skin.

They held the knife up to their arm.

In a panic, Asriel bolted across the bed and grabbed at it. Before he could touch it, they held it up above their head, out of his reach.

"Relax, relax!" they said, laughing.

Asriel could feel the tears in his eyes. "That's not funny, Chara!"

"Geez," they said. Asriel snatched at the knife, but they waved it back and forth in the air. "Quit crying already. I told you I wouldn't do it."

Asriel sniffled, wiping his eyes. He hated it when Chara teased him, but for them to tease him about _this?_ That seemed... especially mean, somehow. But he couldn't say that to Chara's face. He imagined they'd just make fun of him even more.

"A-alright," he stammered.

“But I’ve got another idea,” Chara said, a mischievous smile on their face. Asriel felt a sense of dread. “Hand me your locket.”

Asriel was baffled. “What? Huh? Why?”

“Just do it. Trust me.”

The sense of dread got worse. But Asriel couldn’t bring himself to say “no” to Chara, not for anything. So he took the locket from around his neck and handed it to Chara.

“There’s something missing,” Chara said, matter-of-factly, popping it open. The song began to play, but Chara didn’t even seem to notice. They just stared down at the locket, their knife in their other hand, and…

Without warning, they took the knife and not-too-gently pressed it inside the locket, on the opposite side of where the music box was. Asriel heard a harsh _tink_ as the dull metal edge of the knife met the locket’s surface.

“Wha- hey!” Asriel shouted, reaching out without being sure what to reach for, but Chara pulled away from him. “What are you doing?! Stop!”

But Chara didn’t stop. Asriel heard the sound of metallic scraping as they cut and cut at the inside of the locket, doing who-knows-what to it. Asriel grabbed at it again, but again, they pulled it out of his reach.

“Don’t,” Chara said flatly. “You’ll mess it up.”

“Mess what up?! Chara, you’re being mean!”

“Just give me a second! Trust me!”

“Chara!”

But Chara was, apparently, already done with whatever they were doing. The scratching noises stopped, and Chara took their knife out of the locket.

Asriel felt himself start to cry. Again.

“You… you ruined it…”

“Don’t be a crybaby,” said Chara. They were smiling, a large, rather scary smile… one that only Asriel could have recognized as being genuine. “Look.”

Chara held up the locket. On the inside, scratched deeply into the inside of the locket, were the words:

“BEST FRIENDS FOREVER”

“Ta-da,” said Chara, still smiling. “Now it’s finished.”

Asriel gently took the locket in his paws and stared at the words. He still didn’t understand, but all the same, the magic in him pulsed rapidly. His paws shook.

“Our promise,” Chara went on. “To be best friends forever. Now we’ll never forget. No matter what happens. No matter how far apart we are. We’ll truly be together, Asriel.”

Asriel still wasn’t sure what to feel. Part of him still felt a little angry at Chara, for doing something like that without asking him first. But at the same time, part of him felt… touched. In a very Chara way, it had been a sweet, thoughtful gesture.

And, he couldn’t help it, but there was something in him that really did like the idea of literally carrying their promise around his neck.

Best friends forever.

Chara was right, weren’t they? That was what he wanted. More than anything. More than his wish to climb the mountain and see the stars. He wanted Chara to be there, by his side.

And, in a way, that _was_ what the locket meant, didn’t it? It was fitting.

“Are you… are you going to do yours too?” he asked, raising his head and looking at Chara again. Chara’s smile widened.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

* * *

“Ree, get up, get up!”

Asriel blinked awake. Chara wasn’t lying next to him, like usual—instead, as he looked around, he saw them standing next to the bed. They were in their gardening clothes, their locket hanging over their overalls. In one of their hands was their knife, unsheathed, which they were waving around excitably.

“Hurry up!”

Asriel sat up and yawned, stretching his arms over his head.

“Already? It’s so early,” Asriel groaned.

“How can you tell?!” said Chara, and he had to admit, they had a point. “Besides, you slept in. Let’s go already!”

“I have to get dressed!”

“Fine! I’ll meet you outside!”

And Chara rushed out the bedroom door. He’d _never_ seen Chara so excited, so in a hurry. Chara waking him up alone was so weird that he gave himself a painful pinch to make sure he wasn’t dreaming it.

Once he’d changed into his gardening clothes and put his own locket back around his neck—although not before opening it and making sure the “BEST FRIENDS FOREVER” was still scratched into its surface—he walked out into the living room.

Immediately, Chara was right there, inches from him. They were smiling, that wide, uneven smile of theirs. They were still holding their knife.

“Finally! Now go get your dad!”

“Chara.”

“Please?” Chara tried, tilting their head and bouncing on the soles of their feet.

Asriel rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling at Chara’s eagerness. “Fine.”

A few minutes later, he emerged from his father’s bedroom with his father, yawning, in tow. His father was still wearing the pink sweater, emblazoned with “MR. DAD GUY”—Asriel wasn’t sure he’d ever taken it off.

Chara took one look at him and their excitement instantly drained from their face. Their trademark blush deepened, and they looked away from his father. Or, really, from his sweater.

Asriel grinned.

“Oooooohhh~” he said, sing-song. “Someone’s embarrassed~”

Chara glared at him. Their voice was a whispered hiss. “Shut up! Am not!”

Asgore laughed heartily.

“Children, children,” he said. “There is no need to tease one another. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Yeah, you heard my dad,” said Asriel, still grinning. “Don’t be embarrassed, Chara.”

Chara groaned, which just made Asriel snicker.

“Just take my hand already,” they muttered, pinching their nose with their free, knifeless hand, and Asriel walked over and offered his paw. They took it.

Asgore looked at them, hand-in-hand, and nodded. He started to walk towards the front door, and Asriel followed behind him, Chara in tow.

“Now, today, young one,” Asgore said. “I am going to show you how to use that knife of yours for gardening. Are you ready?”

“Yes, mister...” said Chara quietly. “Sir.”

“Very good.”

* * *

A year ago, even gardening would have been a struggle. Chara hated to be touched, even by Asriel, so when Asgore tried to show them something by hand, they would respond by going stock-still, like a statue. It had been weeks, and a lot of Asriel trying to soothe them, before they would allow him to even touch their hand without freezing up.

But, now, as they crouched next to a wilting sunflower, it was as if they’d never been afraid at all. They simply let Asgore adjust their hands, showing them the proper way to dig into the sunflower’s soil with their knife.

“If our minds are gardens, then a weed is like… a negative thought,” he said, his voice gentle. “It finds its way into our soil, forces itself out from under the surface. It grows and grows, despite our best efforts.”

“You can’t destroy it?” said Chara. Even now, their voice was quiet - Asriel could barely hear them.

“Not permanently. But you can control it. You merely have to find its roots.”

And he motioned with his paw to the source of the weed, so close to the young sunflower’s roots that it was almost entangled with them.

“Now… press the blade against the roots of the weed, and cut it. Like I showed you before. Be careful to cut away only the weed.”

Chara nodded and started to saw away at the weed’s roots. Asriel watched closely. He felt kind of useless - he didn’t know anything about gardening. Certainly not as much as Chara or his father did.

About a minute later, Chara had managed to separate the weed’s roots from the sunflower’s. Asriel watched as, without prompting, they pushed the knife underneath the weed’s roots and tugged, until the entire weed came loose in a spray of dirt.

Chara held the would-be plant in their dirt-covered hands, their smile so wide it was almost a grin. They waved it towards Asriel, spraying more dirt all over their face, their overalls.

“Gross!” said Asriel, giggling. “Get it away!”

But that just made Chara stick it right under his nose. He pushed them away playfully, but they only kept shoving it at him.

“Smell it! Smell it!” they said, laughing.

“Excellent work!” said Asgore, clapping, and Chara stopped playing with the weed to look at him. “But, of course, you can do so much more with a knife than cut and destroy. You can also use it to create, to build. Would you like me to show you?”

Chara looked at their knife, then back to Asgore, and nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

Asgore chuckled.

“Now, one thing you can use a knife for is to plant seeds,” he said, walking to another part of the garden. Chara followed behind him, and Asriel followed behind them. “Not unlike a shovel. This way...”

* * *

Asriel’s eyes shot open. He almost jumped out of bed, but stopped when he realized he’d disturb Chara, whose arms would normally be wrapped around his waist.

It took him a moment to realize that Chara’s arms weren’t wrapped around his waist. Chara wasn’t there at all. He sat up, startled. When he looked towards the other side of the room, at Chara’s bed, Chara wasn’t there either.

Chara’s boss monster plush was sitting on his bed, staring at him, but nothing else was out of the ordinary. All the same, Asriel gave his arm a pinch to see if he was dreaming.

“Chara?” he called out.

No answer. He turned to Chara’s toy.

“...You haven’t seen them, have you?”

The toy continued to stare at him with its blank, black button eyes.

His ears flopping to the floor, Asriel bent over the side of his bed and looked underneath it, just in case Chara was there and waiting to surprise him. But there was nothing there but dust and old human toys he no longer played with.

He twisted around, looking under Chara’s bed too. Completely empty.

OK, then, he reminded himself. That wasn’t _too_ weird. Sometimes, Chara had to go out on their own, right? There had to be one time where he hadn’t had to lead them through the hallway.

He tried to think of it.

He couldn’t think of any. Even when Chara went to the bathroom, they would wake him up and have him lead them to it, hand-in-hand. The only times Chara had been on their own was when they were knitting with his mother and when…

They’d ruined the kitchen, over a year ago now, after The Incident.

OK, maybe it was time to freak out.

Without even a thought as to changing out of his pajamas, Asriel hopped off his bed and walked out into the hallway. There was nobody there either, and there was no sound from any of the other rooms, not even the sound of his mother and father talking. Everything was quiet… it was creeping Asriel out.

Slowly, step by step, he padded his way down the hall.

“Chara?” he called out. “Mom? Dad?”

But silence answered back.

“This isn’t funny!”

The moment he said that, he heard a high-pitched giggle. It seemed to come from everywhere. He looked all around himself, but he couldn’t place the source of the sound. He even looked towards the ceiling, in case Chara had figured out how to crawl on top of one.

He looked down from the ceiling.

And came eye-to-eye with a pair of wide red eyes and an even wider smile staring back at him. It was a smile that was _too_ wide, wider than any smile should be.

“Boo,” said a fully-dressed Chara. If he was thinking straight, he might’ve thought it was a little weird that Chara was already dressed too.

Asriel clapped his hands over his mouth before he could bleat. He shot a glare at Chara, who just cackled.

“You…!” he started to say, reaching for them to give them a good shake. But, before he could, Chara turned on their heel and started to run down the hallway.

“Can’t catch me!” they taunted, shooting a smug smile over their shoulder at him.

“Chara! That’s not funny!” he said, almost tripping over his own feet as he struggled to give chase.

When Chara reached the living room, they suddenly stopped and turned around, smiling an unreadable smile. Asriel screeched to a halt before he crashed right into them.

“Ugh! Chara, you’re being so…”

That was when he noticed the decor. The presents on the table, which had a green and yellow striped tablecloth on it. His parents, emerging from the kitchen, his mother holding a butterscotch-cinnamon pie with eleven candles in it. The giant banner hung across the wall with the words “HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY ASRIEL” on it.

“...Weird.”

“Surprise!” shouted both his parents at the same time.

Chara was _grinning._ Asriel could see their teeth, sharp as fangs.

“Gotcha,” they whispered. Asriel grinned back, giving them the kind of light, playful shove he knew he wouldn’t have been able to get away with a year ago. Chara only snickered.

“Well,” said Asgore, eyes glinting. “That is certainly _one_ way to fetch Asriel.”

“Yes,” Toriel agreed, as she set the pie on the table. She was smiling. “Although I am unsure what else I expected.”

Chara didn’t seem to be listening to either of them. Asriel watched as they made their way for the presents on the table, picking a very small one out of the pile. It was a white wrapping covered in yellow stars, barely larger than Asriel’s paw.

“Oh, my child, it is not time yet for those…” Toriel said, blinking, but Chara was already shoving the present into Asriel’s hands. He could see, attached to the wrapping, was a note. It said “To: Asriel,” but instead of someone’s name, the “From:” had a tiny drawing of a flower.

“Open it,” Chara demanded.

“Is this… from you?” Asriel asked, barely able to believe it.

“Open it,” Chara repeated. Asriel glanced over to his mother, who looked just as confused as he felt.

“Can I?” he asked.

“I do not see the harm.”

Permission granted, Asriel held up the gift to his ear and gave it a tiny shake. He couldn’t hear anything.

Chara glared impatiently at him, huffing.

“OK, OK,” he said. Normally, he’d tear right into presents, but this time, he took the yellow ribbon off the wrapping slowly and carefully. He didn’t care that he was probably driving Chara crazy - he was afraid he’d break whatever was inside, and he’d never forgive himself if he did.

Under the wrapping was a little brown box. It was kind of cute on its own, but Asriel didn’t hesitate to take the lid off. He could see something clear and round inside it, which he gently took in his paw and pulled out.

It was a slightly cracked glass orb, the shape of a lightbulb, attached to a white disk. Under the white desk was a series of gears attached to a black platform, and on the white disk was a series of symbols he didn’t understand. What was _in_ the glass orb he recognized instantly. It was a miniature of the solar system - the sun and the eight planets, made a little unevenly from what he guessed was clay.

The planets were rotating around the sun, in slow, uneven steps, every second. With every rotation, there was a soft _tick_ sound.

Chara was staring at him closely, watching his expression.

“This is the coolest gift _ever!”_ Asriel shouted, throwing his arms out and pulling them into a hug that almost lifted them off the ground. Part of him knew he shouldn’t do that. Part of him didn’t care. “Where’d you get it? Did you make it?!”

“F-from the turtle,” they stammered.

He wondered _when_ they had gotten it. Had they snuck out one night, all the way to Waterfall? Had they, and this was even harder to believe, _asked his parents?_

“I love it so much!” He could feel his tail wagging. “Thank you, Chara!”

* * *

Humming to himself, his tail still wagging, Asriel placed the miniature solar system on top of the shelf next to Chara’s bed. It continued merrily ticking away - he was glad the battery hadn’t run out. He wondered how long it would last.

Chara was standing behind him, as they usually did, so it took only a moment for Asriel to turn around and grin at them. He knew better than to hug them without permission this time, as much as he wanted to.

“That was the best birthday I’ve ever had,” he said, bouncing on his heels. “Thank you so much, Chara!”

Chara’s pink cheeks turned a tad bit pinker, but they smiled up at him.

“Don't worry about it,” they said.

“Don’t be silly!” he insisted. “I mean, after what happened last year, I was afraid you’d…”

He shook his head, trying to literally shake off memories of his last birthday. Trying to get Chara out of bed. Chara wrenching his arm behind his back. The sound of Chara crying.

And there was one other memory. One he didn’t want to shake off. He felt his cheeks get warm just thinking about it.

And, even worse, he suddenly had an idea. An awful, embarrassing idea.

“W-well!” he stammered, feeling his cheeks get warmer and warmer. His voice jumped an octave. “Anyway!”

Chara stared at him, clearly confused.

“Is something wrong?”

“N-not a thing!” He turned around to stare at the miniature, just to have an excuse not to look in Chara’s direction. “I… I was just thinking…”

He could see Chara reflected in the glass orb. They tilted their head.

“Today was really, _really_ nice and all, and this present is so cool, but…”

“But?” asked Chara, sounding disappointed.

“But!” Asriel said quickly, tapping his front claws together. “It’s… it’s still missing something! Yeah!”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, what if… what if… let’s just say, uh, I got this really nice present last year, and, um, I, um… wanted it… a-again?”

There was a short pause where neither of them spoke.

Then Chara sputtered out a laugh. Asriel covered his face with his hands.

“You’re asking me to… kiss you?”

 _Don’t say it like that!_ shouted Asriel’s brain as Asriel buried his face deeper into his hands. He opened his mouth to stammer out a reply, but his throat went dry.

“Sure,” said Chara. “If that’s what you want.”

He heard the sound of tiny footsteps coming closer to him.

“Turn around, dork.”

Asriel could barely bring himself to, but he did.

“Your arms are in the way,” said Chara, taking his paws into their hands and not-so-gently tugging them out of the way of his face.

Asriel felt magic rushing through him as he stared at Chara. His cheeks were very, very warm, and it was only looking at Chara, whose face was a deep shade of red, that made him feel any better about it.

But, whatever was going through Chara’s mind, they didn’t hesitate. They simply grabbed Asriel by the cheeks, pulled him downwards, and kissed him on the forehead. Their lockets jangled against each other as Chara pulled him closer.

They let the kiss linger there for a moment, and then they pulled away, wiping their mouth with their sleeve.

“There. Happy birthday.”

Asriel was at a loss for words. He still couldn’t believe what had just happened, much less that he’d been the one to ask for it. He felt a whirlwind of emotions rattle through his brain, emotions he didn’t even have any name for - there were so many he almost felt nauseous.

“Th… thank you,” he finally managed to stammer.

“Anytime,” said Chara dismissively, before they paused, their already dark blush becoming a shade darker. “I mean… think nothing of it.”

Asriel would think something of it for, at the very least, another month.

* * *

There was one problem with Asriel standing beneath the height chart, and that was: why even bother? It was _obvious_ that he had become taller than Chara. All you had to do was look at the two of them and you could see it from a mile away.

Not to mention the other problem, which is that Asriel was starting to wonder if he was geting too old for this. But, as immature as he knew it was, he couldn’t help but think about Chara being taller than him last year, and that smug look on Chara’s face. He had to _prove_ he was taller than them this year! He had to!

“Please keep still, dearest one,” said his mother, as she did every year, and Asriel stopped bouncing in place to let her draw the marker line through the tuft of fur at the top of his head.

“There,” she said happily. Asriel stepped away from the wall and eagerly turned around to look at the marking. There it was - a whole foot higher than last year, a few inches above the five foot line.

It took all of Asriel’s self-control not to burst out laughing, to point at Chara and yell that there was _no way_ that they were going to win this year. He had to be grown up about this. He could be smug later.

“Is it my turn yet?" said Chara, sounding as impatient as their crossed arms looked. Asriel blinked, and he saw his mother blink too. They still weren't completely used to Chara speaking while his mother was present.

"Why, yes, my child," said Toriel. "Please stand under the ruler."

Immediately, Chara walked past Asriel and went to stand under the ruler. This time, they didn't flinch or fidget as Toriel drew the marker line through their hair.

Asriel practically shoved his way over to look. He could tell immediately: she was drawing the line in nearly the exact same spot as last year. Chara had barely grown an inch.

Which was... strange. He didn't know how old Chara was, not really, but they'd grown so much since he'd first seen them - and now they'd just stopped growing while he shot up like a weed? It wasn't like they hadn't been eating right.

"Very good," said Toriel. She wrote 'Chara, ???' next to the line. "Thank you for your patience."

With a huff, Chara removed themself from the wall and looked at the marker line. Asriel decided it'd be better if he didn't let what he was thinking show, so he immediately acted like nothing was wrong.

"Haha!" he said, as convincingly as he could manage. "I'm taller! I won this time, Chara!"

Chara only shrugged.

"Now, now," said Toriel, smiling. "Do not tease them, dearest one. I am sure they will grow more next year."

But, strangely, Asriel noticed that she didn't sound very convinced of it herself.

"Mom?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

Toriel looked taken aback, but then she smiled at him. "No, no, nothing is wrong, dearest one." She crossed her arms, frowning as she looked over at Chara, who frowned right back. "It is just... I am surprised at your lack of growth, Chara. You grew so much when you first came here with us, but now you have barely grown at all. It seems... rather strange."

Asriel thought she had a point. It _was_ strange.

"I remember that you were all skin and bones when you first came here too. Perhaps these two things are related?"

Chara looked increasingly uncomfortable, their frown deepening as they stuck their hands in their pockets. Toriel seemed to notice their discomfort, because she smiled at them.

"Ah, please ignore this old woman, my child. I am sure it is nothing to be concerned over."

Noticing Chara's discomfort too, Asriel rushed over to their side, offering his paw to them. They took it in their hand.

"Why don't we go play, Chara?"

"Yeah," Chara agreed. "That sounds good."

Asriel beamed and started to lead them out of the room, waving at his mother with his free paw and saying "Bye Mom!" as he left. She gave a wave back.

"Sorry about that," he said, once they had left the room and were out of earshot. "My Mom's just worried about you, Chara."

Chara squeezed his paw more tightly. "I'm sure she is."

* * *

One late night, or what passed for night in the Underground, Chara was playing with their locket. They were laying over the side of their bed, on their back, the locket lifted into the air. It was open and playing its strange, high-pitched melody, over and over.

Asriel sat on his own bed, reading a human book about space. It had been interesting at first, but between how late it was and the music, he was starting to drift off.

He was halfway to falling asleep sitting up when Chara spoke.

"Dance with me."

Asriel jolted awake, unsure he'd heard them correctly.

"Wha-?"

"To the music," Chara said, rolling over onto their stomach. "To our song. Dance with me."

Asriel was immediately bombarded with images of him and Chara, both in fancy suits, standing chest-to-chest and holding each other by their waists. He felt himself blush.

"No... no way!" he said, too loudly. "I can't! I don't know how!"

"I'll teach you."

Chara set the locket back around their neck and climbed out of the bed. Once they were standing, they raised themselves on the tips of their toes, lifting their right leg up behind themself. Closing their eyes, they lifted both arms far, far above their head, until they connected them at the fingertips. They stayed posed like that, unmoving except for their eyes, which stared down at Asriel from across the room.

"I've danced before," Chara said, their red eyes glinting. "Dance with me, Ree."

Their pose looked, rather than elegant, a little ridiculous in Chara's pajamas. But Asriel blushed deeper anyway - the nickname didn't help.

Asriel wanted to continue insisting that he couldn't, but the way Chara was staring at him made him feel like his world was turning sideways. As much as he couldn't imagine saying no and letting Chara down, as much as this moment felt too Important to ignore, there was also part of him that _wanted_ to dance with Chara.

Or at least wanted to try.

"O-OK," he said, taking the book off his lap and setting it aside before unsteadily climbing off the bed. He already felt unbalanced and uncoordinated, especially next to Chara, and he thought for sure he was making a mistake and that he should stop right away before he embarrassed himself.

But Chara was already moving. With a grace he'd never seen before from any monster, Chara crossed the room and hooked their hands around his waist, pulling the two of them against one another.

The only reason Asriel didn't faint right there is that he could clearly see Chara's face from so close, and Chara's entire face was as red as Hotland. They were smiling their old smile, which was weirdly nostalgic, but it was twitching. It looked as if they were struggling to be serious.

Asriel let out a snicker.

"W-what?" said Chara.

_Oops._

"N-n-nothing," said Asriel, trying to be serious himself. "So... um... what do you do?"

"Just follow my lead," Chara said firmly. They hooked their arms under Asriel's shoulders, placing one of their hands on the small of his back and taking his other hand with their free one. With the hand holding his, they spread Asriel's arm outwards, away from his body. Asriel didn't understand what they were doing at all, and he struggled not to squirm. "Grab my waist."

Nodding rapidly, he wrapped his arm around Chara's waist.

"Now watch my feet. And don't step on them."

Asriel looked down at Chara's legs. He wished he was shorter again, so that Chara wasn't looking up at him, still seeing him blush.

"Walk towards me," said Chara, taking one step back. The motion was graceful, elegant, and clearly something they had done many times before. Asriel, though, took a moment to process what they'd said, and by the time he did, all he could manage was to take a stumbling step forwards, nearly falling over. It was only Chara's weight, still firmly holding him up, that kept him steady.

"Relax," Chara said, sounding vaguely impatient. "It's not rocket science."

"What's rocket science?"

Chara stared blankly. "Forget it. Just take a step back."

He did. Chara followed him, just as gracefully as before, closing the distance between them in one smooth motion.

"Good. Now forward... after me."

Chara took another step back. More carefully this time, Asriel took a step towards them, trying his hardest to imitate not just their movements, but the way he'd seen his mother and father dance together, a long time ago. He still felt clumsy, in comparison to Chara, but at least he hadn't almost fallen over this time.

"Much better," said Chara. "Now back."

Chara took a step forward. Asriel took a step back. Without prompting, Chara took another step back, and Asriel took a step towards them, and they started to fall into a steady rhythm.

Slowly, to the point that Asriel didn't even realize it at first, Chara started to walk to the left. Their hand, still firmly pressed into Asriel's back, moved him to face them, so that the two of them were very slowly spinning around each other, in a circle.

When Asriel noticed, he was so startled by the realization that he almost tripped again. But he quickly caught himself and tried, as hard as he could, to stay in time with their movements.

"Good," said Chara, after a moment. Asriel tried to keep eye contact with them without blushing, but the next time they moved forward towards him, they laid their head on his shoulder, and all attempts not to blush failed. "You make a great partner."

Asriel continued to walk in time with them, but with Chara laying on his shoulder, their bodies were pressed together, chest-to-chest. It was just like he'd imagined before, outside of them both being in pajamas instead of suits, and it made it hard to focus.

"We'll be together forever, won't we?" Chara whispered.

The music from the music box came to a sudden stop, and Asriel stopped with it. He didn't know if it was because of the music stopping or something else, but Chara pulled away from him and stared up at him with their bright red eyes. For a moment, they just stared at each other - Asriel could feel Chara's heart pounding against his chest.

Asriel did it without thinking. He leaned forward, tilting his head just slightly and instinctively tightening his grip on Chara's waist, and pressed his nose against Chara's - just like he'd seen his father do to his mother so many times. Closing his eyes, he gently began to nuzzle his nose against theirs.

Chara didn't nuzzle him back. They just stood there, stock-still, and a wave of horror hit Asriel as he realized he'd done something wrong.

He didn't get time to back away or apologize. All he felt was Chara squeeze his waist in return before they pulled him down towards him and...

Kissed him on the lips.

Asriel stared down at them, his eyes opened wide. Their eyes were closed tightly, but their kiss lingered for a long, long moment. They tilted their head into the kiss, their already red cheeks a deep crimson.

Even after Asriel figured out what Chara was doing physically, it still took a moment for it to reach his thoughts. For him to realize what was actually happening.

Chara was _kissing him._

His mind screeched to a halt, like a tiny River Person in his head had crashed. He felt disconnected from his whole body, like he was looking at it from far away. He seemed to watch himself freeze up, his shoulders stiffening, his cheeks blushing impossibly red. He didn't know what to think. He couldn't think at all.

Until, slowly, Chara pulled away from the kiss, staring up at him. Somehow, their already dark red cheeks grew even redder still. And all of Asriel's thoughts returned to him at once, nearly making him recoil, as if he'd been struck.

"I... But... Huh... What..." he tried to say, dazed.

"Oh my god," Chara murmured to themself, scooting away from Asriel and burying their face in their hands. " _Oh my god."_

 _"_ You kissed me???" Asriel finally managed to say, more to himself than to Chara. He reached up and touched his snout - it still felt warm.

"I know!" Chara squeaked, turning away from him. "I know!"

"But..." he said, but he couldn't manage to ask them _why._ Why then? Why _him?_

"It seemed _appropriate at the time!"_ Chara hissed.

Asriel couldn't really argue. He _had_ been nuzzling their nose. But a kiss? A kiss was, like, a whole different thing! It meant... _things!_

Chara started to pace back and forth, their head in their hands. They groaned, loudly.

"Ummmm," Asriel said, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to find the right words to say. He felt like he should be doing something, to try and salvage things. Maybe he should go over and kiss them back? But that'd be weird. He probably shouldn't do that. "Do you... not want to dance anymore?"

Chara looked up at him and made a face. Their cheeks were already as red as red could possibly be, but their horrified expression said it all.

"No! I mean... yes, I... ugh! I don't know!" they said, rubbing both their temples with their forefingers. "This is so dumb! _I'm dumb!"_

Asriel opened his mouth to try and reassure them that they were not, in fact, dumb, but Chara stumbled over to their bed and flopped onto it face-first before he could get a word out. Even if he tried to speak, he doubted Chara could have heard him over their muffled groaning.

He reached over for them and Chara rolled over, still groaning.

"Just let me die," they said.

"Chara!"

In reply, Chara grabbed their pillow and buried their head under it. Concerned, Asriel reached out and gave them a shake, but they didn't budge. Or respond to him in any other way.

Eventually, more than a little bit frustrated, Asriel went back to his own bed and flopped down onto it himself. He didn't even try to sleep, or even close his eyes - he knew he wouldn't be able to.

Instead, he spent the entire night trying, and failing, not to think about the kiss.

* * *

By the next morning, he was still thinking about the kiss.

While he took his bath, he thought about the kiss.

While he brushed his teeth, he thought about the kiss.

While he helped his mother with breakfast, he thought about the kiss.

While he tried to wake Chara up to play, he thought about the kiss. Maybe a little too much, because he decided he shouldn't play with Chara today after all.

While he went to his lessons instead, he thought about the kiss.

And, while Dr. Gaster tried to teach him the principles of Magic Physics, he thought about the kiss, to the point Dr. Gaster had to gently reprimand him to pay attention.

But, by the time the lesson was over, he was still thinking about the kiss.

What did it _mean?_

It was playing over and over again in his head, each time slightly different. By the end of the day, he imagined himself as a tall adult boss monster with long black bangs and majestic horns, a slightly shorter adult Chara swooning in his arms. Flower petals, carried by the wind, swept past them.

"Oh, Chara, you are so beautiful and handsome," he imagined himself saying in a sexy voice. "I wish to kiss you a lot."

"Oh, Ree!" he imagined Chara saying, tossing their head back. "That is my greatest wish too!"

And then they made out.

But what did it _mean?_ Why did he want to... to kiss Chara? Sure, yes, he was Chara's best friend... no, their Best Friend Forever, but he hadn't ever wanted to _kiss_ his friends before. Not even that really cute bunny girl! But Chara was different. Chara was... special.

He just couldn't place what it was about Chara that made them so special. It wasn't that they were a human, although that was pretty cool. It was something much bigger than that.

How had he described it before? It was that... he wanted to be around Chara forever. He wanted Chara to grow old with him. He wanted Chara to have the kind of relationship with him that his mother and father had with each other - the kind of relationship that could never break apart.

But what did you call that?

He tried to imagine it again, forming pictures in his head of himself and Chara at a much older age, still in each other's arms.

"Chara..." he imagined himself saying, still in a sexy voice.

"What is it, Ree?" he imagined Chara replying.

"I... I... Lo..."

The imaginary Chara looked confused. In reality, Asriel started to speak out loud, trying to form the word he was thinking of. Why was this so hard?

"Lo... love you!" both Asriels said. "Chara, I love you!"

In both reality and his imagination, Asriel clapped his paws over his snout, and the imaginary versions of himself and Chara faded.

He almost expected the real Chara to be standing right in front of him, having heard the whole thing, but the room was empty, leaving Asriel alone with the realization he had just had.

He _loved_ Chara. He capital-L _Loved_ Chara.

Asriel nearly fainted on the spot. He grabbed at his locket, breathing heavily, magic flowing through him faster than ever before. It threatened to burst out of him and set the room on fire.

This changed _everything._

If he was in lo... in _love_ with Chara, what was he supposed to do? He'd never been in _love_ with somebody before! Should he tell them? He couldn't imagine doing that - the real Chara would probably just make fun of him.

But what if... what if they didn't? What if they... they l-l-loved him back?

Asriel buried his face in his paws, feeling himself blush deeply. No way! _No way!_ This was too weird, too embarrassing... there wasn't a chance in all the Underground that Chara felt the same way about him he felt about them!

He had to hide this. He had to hide it and keep it secret and pretend that nothing had changed. He was still their Best Friend Forever, after all... he wouldn't want to ruin that for all the world.

He let out a deep breath, feeling relieved that he'd come up with the right solution. Yes. All he had to do was pretend things were normal between them, just like before, and nothing weird would ever happen between them.

Although, he thought... that meant they wouldn't ki... kiss each other again.

But that was fine! Totally fine! Because that'd been weird and embarrassing anyway! It was probably even worse for Chara.

Now that he'd settled that, he unsteadily climbed out of his chair and went back to their shared bedroom, knocking on the door. He was going to make this normal, darn it! Even if it was the last thing he did!

"C-Chara!" he yelled at the door, wincing when his voice cracked. "W-want to play?"

Slowly, there was a series of quiet footsteps, then the door opened just a hair. From the crack, a deeply blushing Chara peered out and stared at him.

"What?"

"Ahem!" said Asriel, putting his paws on his hips and smiling smugly. Which definitely wasn't to hide that he was blushing too, no sir. "I said... want to play?"

Chara's eyes looked downwards as they seemed to think about this.

"...Fine."

Chara opened the door the rest of the way and roughly extended a hand. Asriel looked down at it and swallowed. Somehow, the idea of holding hands now felt very...

Instead, he reached out and booped Chara on the nose. Chara let out a screech, reaching up for their nose, and Asriel took his chance to run down the hallway.

"You're it!" he shouted behind himself as Chara, glaring at him, burst through the bedroom door and gave chase.

Yes, Asriel thought as he ran, _this_ was perfect. He didn't want to change a thing.

* * *

But, as Asriel soon discovered, no matter how much he wanted things not to change, things had a way of changing anyway.

For instance, he couldn’t even be _around_ Chara after that without turning into a blushing mess, much less touch them. When they chased each other playing tag and Chara knocked him over with a full-body tackle, pinning him to the ground, he would stammer an excuse to stop playing and would squirm out of their grip. When it was time for their baths, Asriel would insist on taking his separately. And, whenever Chara wanted to hold hands, which was _all the time,_ Asriel would bat their hand away.

Worst of all, he could tell it was starting to make Chara really confused. And really, really mad. Chara didn’t _say_ anything, but he could still tell - the frustration on their face, the way they looked away from him and glared whenever he put any distance between them, was as plain as the stars in Waterfall.

But what was he _supposed_ to do? How could he ever admit to them that he… that he _loved_ them?

Before he knew it, though, months had passed, and it was Chara’s birthday... or the closest thing they had to it, at least. They had chosen to make the same trip to Home that they had last year, as was already becoming a tradition - but, this time, Asriel didn’t hold their hand the whole way through Waterfall and Snowdin. Chara just hung over the edge of the River Person’s boat the entire trip, looking vaguely seasick and glaring at the walls, while Asriel sat on the opposite end with his parents, feeling wracked with guilt.

Nobody said a word to each other.

They continued to not speak, Asriel feeling miserable and awkward, even as they entered Home and stood under the banners proclaiming, once again, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARA.”

Only Toriel spoke - and just to leave the room and proclaim she was going to eat Chara’s birthday pie. Once she was gone, Asriel meekly stood a few feet apart from Chara, not looking at them and not saying a word.

Until, finally, Chara spoke.

“Oh, come _on,_ Ree. This is ridiculous.”

Asriel’s head snapped towards them and, as soon as he looked at them, he felt himself blush. It _was_ ridiculous - nothing had changed between them, right? They were still just Best Friends Forever, right?

Chara rolled their eyes, marched towards him, and roughly shoved their hand into his.

Instantly, Asriel did a whole bunch of things at once that he really shouldn’t have. First, he _pulled_ his paw out of their grip. Then he took several steps backwards, putting a few extra feet of distance between himself and Chara. And, worst of all, he shouted “NO!”

As his voice echoed off the walls, Chara stared blankly at him, their hand still suspended in the air. Then, just as quickly, Chara clenched their hand into a fist, closed the distance between them, and shoved him.

“What the _fuck_ is _wrong with you?”_

Asriel opened his mouth to defend himself, but no words came out. He wanted to say “you know what!” or even “it’s the kiss, stupid!” but all he felt were the tears pricking at his eyes.

If Chara even noticed, they didn't seem to care.

"You've been acting..." Chara's glare deepened as they apparently struggled to find the right word. " _Weird!_ A few months ago, you were all 'oh, Chara, you're my best friend! Oh, Chara, I never want to let go!' and now you're acting like you want _nothing to do with me!"_

Tears rolled down Asriel's furry cheeks.

"Did I... do something wrong? That's it, isn't it? So just get it over with and tell me already!"

Asriel clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly.

"Yes!" he shouted. "You... you..."

_Kissed me._

"I can't... I can't hold your hand, OK?! I just can't!"

And, unable to hold back his crying any more, he let out a loud wail and stumbled, bleary-eyed, towards the exit. He nearly ran into his father, who had been standing there the entire time, but he ducked between his legs and out the door before him or Chara could get a single word out. The only thing he heard was Toriel's voice quietly saying "oh dear."

Rubbing at his eyes, he raced through Home - through the winding corridors, past the puzzles, over the spike trap, down the stairs, and through the gate - until, exhausted and breathless, he couldn't run any more. He had finally arrived, without even thinking about where he was going, at the edge of the ruins: the place where Chara had fallen two years ago.

And there was someone else there.

Asriel almost, through his blurred vision, thought the squat figure standing in front of him might be another fallen human. But then the green scales and scraggly white beard became clear - it couldn't be anyone else but Gerson.

Asriel watched as he raised his pith helmet and looked down from the hill he was standing on at him.

"M-Mr. G-Gerson?" Asriel stammered, or more accurately, blubbered. He rubbed even harder at his eyes, half-wondering if Gerson was actually even there or just his imagination. "W-what are y-you... what are you doing h-here?"

"Wa ha ha! What a question!" Gerson laughed, slamming the butt of his cane into the ground. "I could ask _you_ the same thing! What brings the Prince of Monsters down to this old dump?"

Asriel swallowed. He didn't really want to cry anymore, not in front of Gerson - but he couldn't bring himself to admit why he was there.

"Well, sonny, if you must know, I was studying..."

He paused, before leaning forward conspiratorially, his voice dropping to a low whisper.

" _The Legend of Mt. Ebott."_

Mt. Ebott, Asriel thought. That was the name humans had given to the mountain they were buried under - he'd learned that in his classes. But he'd never heard of any legend about it.

"You know of the prophecy, yeah?"

Asriel nodded rapidly. Every monster knew of the ancient prophecy that one day, The One Who Had Seen The Surface would "return" and the Underground "will go empty." He'd almost believed that the One had to be Chara, but he couldn't make any sense out of the "return" part. Chara had never been in the Underground before, had they?

"Well, from what I've heard," Gerson continued, "the humans have their own legend about the Underground. Or, rather, the Surface - the part they call Mt. Ebott."

Asriel took a moment to breathe, to find his voice, before he spoke. "What... what do they say?"

Gerson leaned his head back, looking away from Asriel and up, up, up, at the hole in the cave ceiling above him, where Chara had fallen from.

"It's simple: they say that no one who climbs the mountain ever returns."

Gerson looked back down at Asriel, but this time, he was grinning.

"But you see the contradiction, don'tcha? Between the prophecy and the legend?"

Asriel did.

"The legend says... the legend says the Angel 'returns' to the Underground, right?" Asriel asked, the same way he would to any other teacher.

"Wa ha ha! Exactly! How can anyone _return_ if nobody ever _leaves?"_ Suddenly, Gerson's expression grew serious again. "And there's one other thing too."

Asriel was so interested that he almost forgot about the reason he'd come this far into Home in the first place.

"What?"

"Why would anyone climb a mountain like that in the first place? A mountain nobody ever comes back from? Now, I ain't no adventurer these days, but that just sounds foolhardy to me."

Asriel blinked. He hadn't thought about that - he didn't think he'd ever be brave enough to go anywhere that people said you never came back from.

But there was one problem, one very obvious problem, with what Gerson was saying.

"But Chara did!" Asriel blurted out. "They must have climbed the mountain to come here!"

Gerson nodded. "That's right. They did. You ever think about why? Even without a legend like that one... what kind of kid climbs a whole entire mountain by themselves? What kind of fool thing were they even thinking?"

Asriel mulled it over in his head, but he couldn't think of a reason. Why _would_ they? They'd looked so beaten up, so dirty, when he'd first met them... they didn't seem like they were some kind of brave adventurer either. Or, at least, not a very good one. He'd always wondered what Chara's life was like before he met them, but he knew asking was a bad idea, so he never did anymore.

"But enough of my jibber jabber," said Gerson, going back to his usual nearly-toothless grin. "You _still_ haven't told me why _you're_ here."

It took a moment for Asriel's brain to adjust to the change in subject, but when it did, he felt his cheeks becoming warm. It felt... really embarrassing to admit that he was there because he'd gotten into a fight with Chara and started crying, much less to admit what the fight was _about._

"It's..." he finally said, trying to figure out a good excuse.

"Hmm?"

"It's about a... a friend," he finally managed.

"Ah, a friend, huh?" Gerson nodded, looking very serious. "I gotcha."

"And... and this friend," Asriel continued, tapping his claws together as he spoke, "has a friend, and they're, like, really good friends. Like, super best friends! And they play lots of games together and trust each other a whole lot and take baths together and _everything_."

"And this friend and this friend's friend," Gerson offered, squinting, "something big happen between them?"

Asriel nodded. "That's right. Um... my friend's friend... they..." His voice dropped to a whisper. " _Kissed them."_

Gerson's serious expression turned back into its familiar wide grin. Knowing Gerson, Asriel would have almost described it as mischievous _,_ and it made Asriel even more nervous.

"Sorry, sonny, they did what now?" Gerson said, cupping his hand over his ear and leaning towards him. "These old ears ain't what they used to be, you know?"

Asriel wasn't in the mood for Gerson's teasing. He knew very well that Gerson knew _exactly_ what he'd said. So he balled his paws into fists and shouted "I said they kissed!"

Gerson was literally knocked backwards by the force of Asriel's echoing shout, tipping over onto the back of his shell and teetering back and forth. But he didn't seem to mind - he just laughed, clutching his stomach.

"Wa ha ha ha!" he said, without making any effort to right himself. Asriel rushed over to his side, feeling completely awful about himself. "Must have been _some_ kiss they had!"

Asriel offered his paw to Gerson, but as soon as he did, Gerson did an effortless flip to his feet, picked his cane back up off the rocky ground, and merely grinned at Asriel.

"Thanks, kiddo, but no need," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "So, your friend's friend smooched your friend. What happened then?"

Asriel dropped his paw from where it was still hanging in the air and shoved his paws in his pockets, looking towards the ground.

"You... you promise you won't laugh?"

Gerson squinted, before raising a hand to his chest and saying solemnly, "Cross my heart."

Asriel wasn't sure if he believed him, especially since it looked like Gerson was barely repressing another grin, but he figured he didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Everything got... weird," Asriel mumbled without looking back up at him. Instead, he focused on teetering on the balls of his feet. "I... I mean, my friend... they realized they, uh, that they _loved_ my other friend. Like, a whole lot. That they wanted to... to live with them forever... and stuff."

Gerson's expression grew serious again, and this time, it didn't look he was suppressing a smile. He stared right at Asriel, leaning on his cane. "I see. And so what'd your friend do?"

Asriel tried to look Gerson in the eyes, but he couldn't. He suddenly felt... ashamed of himself.

"Well, they didn't know if their friend... loved them back. And they felt too, um, weird about it to, uh, tell them... how they felt. So my friend... stopped hanging out with my other friend. They stopped taking baths together and everything."

"Stopped bathing together, eh?" said Gerson. "That's serious."

"Yeah, but that's not all," Asriel continued. "They had a big fight over it! My other friend just wanted to hold my friend's hand... and... and my friend wouldn't let them! Like a _big jerk!"_

Shaking his head, Gerson reached out and laid a hand on Asriel's shoulder.

"Nah, that doesn't make them a jerk," he said. "Kiddo, love is... complicated. When you see that other person and your heart starts going _thump-thump_ , you do some crazy stuff. Trust me."

Asriel took his paws out of his pockets and started to rub at one of his arms. "Have you... have you ever been in love, Mr. Gerson?"

Gerson grinned. "Wa ha ha! Now that's a story! But one for another time, heh heh." His grin faded. "Now, how about I regale you with an even _better_ story?"

Asriel nodded. "Uh-huh."

"You ever hear the one about how your Mom and Pops met?"

Asriel blinked, his ears perking up. He hadn't - he'd never actually asked them.

"No. How'd they meet?"

"Well, King Fluffybuns, back when he was Prince Fluffybuns, was head over heels for the future Queen ever since the first day he laid eyes on her. But, the funny thing is, he couldn't tell her so! Poor prince just couldn't get up the nerve!"

 _That_ was easy for Asriel to imagine. It was harder for him to imagine his father being the one who swept his mother off her feet.

"So he wrote her lots of poetry. Awful, awful stuff. Just the worst."

"Do you remember any of it, Mr. Gerson?"

Gerson made a face. " _I'm a boss monster. You're a boss monster too. Roses are red. I love you."_

Asriel also made a face. "That's... pretty bad."

"And that wasn't all," Gerson went on. "The Queen? She was _not_ princess material. That girl was a wild child - always going to these crazy parties, hanging out with humans, dancing and singing and who-knows-what-else-ing. And you can guess what the old King and Queen thought of _that."_

Asriel frowned. It was also hard to imagine his mother being a wild partygoer, but he didn't like the idea that his grandparents hadn't liked his parent's relationship. Love was love, right? He hoped his parents would approve of him and Chara, if it came to that - he didn't want to have to elope!

"Well, your father didn't much care for what his folks had to say about it. So he did something that, for a Prince, was unheard of - he snuck off one night and went to one of those human parties himself!"

Asriel gasped, at this point totally enveloped in Gerson's story. "No way!"

"Oh, way indeed, kiddo. He was all kinds of out of place, so I hear. He knew nothing about human culture _or_ any dancing that wasn't that kingly, ballroom crud. But he saw your mother out there, shaking her hips on the dance floor, and he knew he had to try. So he went out there, marched right up to her, and strutted his stuff just like all the humans."

"And my mom fell in love with him too, right?" Asriel asked.

"Wa ha ha ha!" Gerson laughed. "No, of course not! She thought he looked ridiculous!"

That had... not been how Asriel was expecting this story to go. His ears drooped.

"But..." Gerson continued. "She liked his moxie, and she was flattered a prince would do that for her. So she agreed to go on a date with him, just one time. And you know where he took her?"

Asriel shook his head.

"To his own private garden," Gerson said seriously. "Just him and her - nobody else. And he showed her the flowers and plants he was growing in there, showed her how much he cared for them, taught her how to plant, maybe gave her a few poetic-y metaphors about how growing a flower was a labor of love."

"And then she loved him!" Asriel butted in.

Gerson waved a fist at Asriel. "These things take time, sonny! Let me finish my story!"

"Oh. Sorry."

"Eh. It's fine." Gerson shrugged. "You kids are so impatient these days. Anyway, no, she didn't fall in love with him right then and there. But, maybe, the little Queen got to thinking... maybe this weird future King with his weird flowers ain't so bad. Maybe those fun days partying with humans ain't gonna last forever. Maybe she ought to settle down with someone who knows a thing or two about how to raise a life."

Gerson paused. Asriel stared, wide-eyed, not saying a word.

"And _then_ she fell in love with him."

Asriel let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought we'd never get to that part!"

"But we did, didn't we?" Gerson said. "And that's the point of all this rambling - these things take time. Sometimes you do crazy things because you're in love, like go off to human parties and kiss people out of the blue, but if you just have patience and be honest with each other, one day, just maybe, you'll see that they love you too."

Gerson squinted.

"I mean, your friend will... your friend's friend... oh, forget it. _You_ just need to stop worrying so much. You need to just let things be. You said your friend's the one who kissed you, right?"

Asriel blushed deeply, looking towards the ground, but he muttered, "Yeah."

"Well, I'm thinking that means your friend just _might_ love you back. So what _you_ need to do is just have patience. One day, they just might come around and confess those feelings what they've got in their heart. For now, though, you should just treasure what you've got with 'em, alright? Take it from an old man - you should do that while you still can."

Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the cave walls. Asriel turned around to find the source of them, and he saw, standing in the entranceway, Chara. They were hunched over, their hands on their knees, breathing heavily.

"Chara!" Asriel shouted, running over to them.

"Asriel... you... _dumbass!"_ Chara shouted between pants. "Why'd you come all the way out here?!"

Asriel looked back over his shoulder at Gerson, who only smiled and nodded knowingly at him.

And then Asriel turned back around and, without waiting another second, pulled Chara into a hug.

"Chara, I'm soooooo sorry!" he wailed. He couldn't stop himself from bursting into tears right away, no matter how hard he tried (which wasn't very). "I was... I was being so mean to you! I should... I should have realized what holding hands meant to you!"

Chara didn't seem to know how to respond at first, from the way they stood as still as a statue in Asriel's arms. But then they reached out and hugged Asriel back, gripping his shirt in their hands. Their matching lockets jangled against one another.

"I thought you hated me."

"I could _never_ hate you, Chara! You know that!"

 _This all happened because I love you!_ he thought.

"We're Best Friends Forever!" he said instead. "Remember our lockets?"

He felt Chara nod and squeeze him tighter. "Yeah, but... I thought... after that _thing_ happened, that I... ruined everything. That it was all _my_ fault... and... you'd never talk to me again."

"No, it was _my_ fault!" Asriel insisted. "I'm the one who... got weird about it."

Chara let out a quiet but high-pitched giggle. "That _is_ totally like you, Ree."

Asriel blushed. "Hey!"

But Chara didn't apologize. They only broke free from the hug and looked Asriel in the eyes.

"So we're friends again?"

Asriel smiled back at them, feeling relief wash over him. "We never stopped being friends! That's what 'forever' means!"

"Then let's get home," Chara said. "Your Mom and Dad are looking for me. And I think they got me chocolate. I want to eat my chocolate."

Asriel nodded.

"Yeah, let's go."

And Chara replied by holding out their hand. With only a moment's pause, Asriel took it in his paw, and Chara started to lead him back towards their house in Home.

But, as Asriel walked away, he took one last look at Gerson. And he looked up, towards the hole in the cave ceiling where Chara had fallen from.

And he thought about something Gerson had said.

_What kind of kid climbs a whole entire mountain by themselves?_

* * *

Hours later, long into the night, after the presents were opened and the pie and chocolate were eaten and Chara and Asriel crawled into Asriel's old bed to sleep... Asriel found he couldn't sleep at all. He'd been staring at Chara ever since they'd left the cave where Chara had fallen two years ago, watching them as they smiled and laughed. And he'd been feeling more than just the feeling he now recognized as love - he was also feeling confusion and concern.

He couldn't stop thinking about what Gerson had said, about things Chara had said or done. Like The Incident. Or even how beaten up Chara had looked when he'd first met them.

_"I’m worse than all the other humans. I’m a demon. Why don’t you hate me too?"_

“ _Well, what year were you born, Chara?” “I’m not sure.”_

_"They aren't my... mother and father."_

Just what had happened to Chara that would make them want to climb that mountain? It couldn't have been for a very happy reason, but... he had to know. He had to ask. As much as he knew he shouldn't.

"Chara?" he tried, his voice soft.

Chara wasn't asleep either. They were just laying there, their arms wrapped around Asriel's waist, as usual. He could tell they weren't asleep not just by their hunched shoulders, but even by the way they breathed - it wasn't the calm, deep breathing they did when asleep, but just a little shallower and more uneven.

"What is it, Ree?" he heard them say. For once, it didn't sound annoyed with him for asking. And there was the nickname too, Asriel thought - maybe Chara was trusting him even more now?

"Can I ask you something? It's..." He paused as he tried to find the word. "Important."

Asriel wondered if Chara was rolling their eyes or not. But, either way, they let go of his waist. Asriel turned around to watch them sit up, as they raised their knees to their chest and wrapped their arms around their legs.

"It better be," they said. "I'm exhausted."

Asriel sat up as well, sitting on his legs, and stared straight ahead at Chara. He tried to look as serious as possible, but he couldn't help but nervously clutch at his locket.

"Chara..." he said slowly. "Why did you climb the mountain?"

For a moment, Chara looked shocked, their eyes widening. Their entire body hunched together, like a spring before it gets released, and they squeezed their arms tightly around their legs.

Then they gave Asriel a fierce glare.

"I'm sorry..." Asriel sighed, his ears drooping. "I shouldn't have asked."

"That's right," Chara replied, still glaring. "You shouldn't have."

Asriel felt a little hurt. He thought Chara trusted him - that they maybe even loved him back - so he thought that maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to share their past with him.

But he knew that was immature of him. Chara's past was their own - he didn't have any right to know what they'd gone through.

Asriel turned away from Chara and laid back on the bed. Yet, before he could say "let's just get back to sleep," Chara spoke.

"I wanted to die."

It was Asriel's turn to be shocked - his eyes widened, and he nearly fell over sitting back up. When he looked at Chara again, their eyes were far, far away, and their mouth had returned to its eerily familiar smile.

"What?!" he exclaimed, in spite of himself, in spite of knowing better. "Why?!"

"Asriel," they replied, without looking at him. "Drop it. I don't want to talk about this."

"No!" he shot back, balling his paws into fists. "I care about you, Chara! I want to know!"

Their eyes narrowed. Their breathing was becoming faster and faster. "I said: drop it."

"But... but..." Asriel insisted. "Why would you... you don't... you don't deserve to die!"

And Chara let out a scream. It was a long, loud, piercing scream that filled every corner of Asriel's tiny room. Asriel froze, clutching his locket so hard it hurt.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Asriel said, feeling tears forming at the corner of his eyes. Some part of him was afraid his parents had overheard the scream and would come rushing over any minute, but he was too upset to really care if they did. He almost wished they would. "I'm sorry."

Chara's whole body was shaking, as if they were struggling to keep something contained within themselves. But they only continued to stare straight ahead, still smiling, not really looking at Asriel.

"You really want to know?" they said. Their voice was tinged with anger. "Fine."

They let out a sigh.

"I hated humans - my parents, my peers, everyone," they continued."And the feelings were, shall we say, mutual."

Asriel was stunned. He couldn't imagine anyone hating Chara - beloved by his parents, himself, and monsters alike. He couldn't imagine anyone hating _anyone_ enough for them to... to end their life over it.

He couldn't even wrap his mind around the concept. Sometimes, rarely, a monster would Fall Down out of grief when they lost someone close to them, but that was out of heartbreak. Nobody did it _on purpose._

Chara's expression changed - they stared straight at Asriel, their smile becoming a frown. "You want to know why I hated them all, don't you?"

Slowly, in spite of everything that had happened, Asriel nodded.

Chara let out a giggle. Asriel was used to Chara's giggle, but this time, it still creeped Asriel out.

_"Too bad."_

Asriel gulped. But it wasn't out of fear - it was to gather his nerves. He still had one question he wanted to ask Chara, in spite of everything telling him not to.

"But... aren't you human?"

Chara cocked their head, their smile returning and their eyes becoming distant again.

"No."

Their smile widened.

"I am a demon," they said. It sounded strange - it sounded like they were reciting something they didn't quite believe themselves. "You may try to tell me otherwise, but I know the truth: I am the worst kind of evil. I am a blight on this world. I am unnatural. I am a cruel, unfeeling monster. I deserve dea.."

Before he could stop himself, Asriel rushed over to Chara's side and wrapped them in a hug. Chara remained stock-still in his arms, not moving an inch, but Asriel only hugged them even tighter anyway.

"You're not," Asriel said desperately. He kept talking, his words coming out in a rapid jumble. "I told you, you're not any of those things. I mean it. You don't deserve to... to die. You're my best friend. Everyone loves you. You're our future."

Slowly, as Asriel spoke, Chara raised their arms and hugged Asriel back.

"You're _my_ future," Asriel said.

"You deserve a better future than me," Chara mumbled in reply.

Asriel shook his head. "Why would you say that, Chara? I... I just can't understand."

Chara didn't reply again. They only squeezed their arms even more tightly around Asriel.

"You're the only future I want, Chara. That's the truth."

"It'd be nice to believe that," Chara said, their voice barely above a whisper. They laughed, but it sounded bitter and hollow. "You know what _I_ don't understand? You, your parents, the monsters... they're all so kind to me. But I don't know what I ever did to deserve it."

Asriel couldn't wrap his brain around that question either. People didn't _deserve_ kindness. They didn't have to _earn it._ He'd always been taught that kindness to your fellow monster was just a given.

So he said so. "What do you mean? You didn't need to do anything, Chara."

Chara's grip on Asriel's shirt became looser - Asriel figured they were deep in thought. "So you're kind to people... just because?"

Asriel nodded, even though Chara couldn't see it.

"Even to me?"

" _Especially_ to you! You're my best friend, remember?"

Chara broke away from the hug and looked Asriel deep in the eyes - Asriel couldn't stop himself from blushing, as usual - as if to check that he was being serious.

"That's what being friends is about, Chara," he said to them, staring right back.

Chara still looked skeptical, but maybe a little less so.

"You're different from all of them, Ree. You know that?" they said.

Asriel tilted his head. "Huh? Why?"

"Because you're the only one who's ever really tried to _be_ my friend. Even down here, everyone just thinks I'm the -" Air quotes. "'Future of humans and monsters.' They don't really care about me."

Asriel didn't think that was true. His parents loved Chara, and he was sure they would gladly give the world up for Chara no matter what the future held.

"But you..." Chara continued. "It's... strange, but you actually... like me for me."

"Is that really strange?"

Chara gave a half-shrug. "Maybe not to you."

"But it's not strange at all!" Asriel insisted. "Because I..."

Asriel still couldn't say the words. It felt like now was the right time, more than any other time, to finally admit his feelings. He remembered clearly what Gerson had said: _if you just have patience and be honest with each other, one day, just maybe, you'll see that they love you too._ Wasn't this the time to "be honest"? Wasn't this the time to reassure Chara that the reason he liked them so much was because he really _loved_ them?

Chara looked more than confused than ever. Asriel could have sworn their trademark blush was just a shade deeper.

"...Nevermind," Asriel said, looking down towards the bedsheets. "We should... get back to sleep."

"Whatever," said Chara, sighing. "Just promise me you won't talk about this again."

"I promise," he said. He laid back down on the bed to go to sleep, putting his back to Chara. "Now let's go back to sleep."

He expected Chara to join him any second, to wrap their arms around his waist until they fell asleep too.

But, instead, they didn't move at all. He didn't feel the bed shift with their weight. What he felt was an unnerving feeling, like something was crawling along his back - it was as if Chara was staring daggers into him.

"Asriel," they said, without emotion. "We're best friends, right?"

Asriel tried to ignore the strange sensation of Chara staring at him, but he couldn't help but clutch at his locket as he replied. "Yeah, of course. Best friends forever."

"And best friends always keep their promises."

Was this still about not talking about them climbing Mt. Ebott anymore? That seemed strange - did Chara not believe him?

"Right," he agreed. That was what best friends did.

"Then promise me you'll never doubt me. That you'll never betray me."

Asriel shivered, swallowing a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Normally, he might have been surprised, even offended, that they'd even ask for a promise like that - he would have said "Chara, of course I'd never betray you!" and that would have been the end of that.

But there was something about the way Chara was acting... something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Unable to resist it any longer, he sat up from the bed and turned back towards Chara. They hadn't moved an inch. They were staring down at him and smiling that eerie smile, the one that didn't quite reach their bright red eyes.

"I promise," he said to them, but he didn't even sound convincing to himself.

"Promise me _,"_ they repeated, without so much as blinking.

"I promise, OK?!" he insisted. "I'd never doubt you, Chara! Not in a million, billion years!"

And Chara nodded.

"Thank you," they said. "Good night, Ree."

And they laid back down on the bed without another word. Asriel stared at them - they'd shut their eyes, and their eerie smile had faded, as if they'd been under some kind of trance. They looked almost at peace, even.

Still feeling unnerved, Asriel laid back down next to them, and Chara wrapped their arms around his waist and settled their head into the crook of his neck.

But Asriel didn't sleep very well that night at all.

He couldn't stop thinking about what Chara had asked of him, no matter how hard he tried.

_Promise me you'll never doubt me._

_That you'll never betray me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Light for betaing this chapter for me!
> 
> Also, the miniature solar system is based on a real thing! https://www.instructables.com/id/Miniature-Revolving-Solar-System/


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